Opinion
3:13-cv-00041-RCJ-VPC
03-06-2013
JERRY LYNN O'NEAL, Plaintiff, v. ALLSTATE INSURANCE et al., Defendants.
ORDER
Pending before the court is pro se Plaintiff Jerry O'Neal's Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (ECF No. 1). The affidavit indicates that Plaintiff has no income or assets, except an unspecified amount of disability or worker's compensation benefits, and that his monthly expenses total $1700 plus the support of two children. The Court grants the motion and screens the Complaint. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915. The Court dismisses the Complaint because it fails to state a claim. See id. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). Specifically, the Complaint is predicated upon allegations that the four defendant insurance companies defrauded the United States and the State of California with respect to Medicare, Medicaid, and/or California state welfare programs and/or used California's judicial processes maliciously in order to deprive him of benefits under one or more of these programs.
The Court cannot say that Plaintiff cannot cure the Complaint by amendment, but the Complaint currently makes out no comprehensible claim. First, Plaintiff invokes several criminal statutes, which he may not privately prosecute. Second, Plaintiff invokes 42 U.S.C. § 1983 but has only named private companies as Defendants. Plaintiff may be able to state a claim for abuse of process under state law or a claim under the False Claims Act, for example, but he has not yet stated such claims. The Court will therefore dismiss, with leave to amend within thirty days.
CONCLUSION
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (ECF No. 1) is GRANTED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk shall file the Complaint.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Complaint is DISMISSED, with leave to amend for thirty (30) days from the date of the entry of this Order into the electronic docket.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
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ROBERT C. JONES
United States District Judge