Opinion
No. 11 C 6012
08-31-2011
JOSE DE JESUS JARA RAIGOZA, Plaintiff, v. JAMES D. SCHLENKER, Defendant.
MEMORANDUM ORDER
Jose de Jesus Jara Raigoza ("Jara") has just submitted a self-prepared Complaint against Dr. James Schlenker. Because Jara has misunderstood the limits on this Court's subject matter jurisdiction, both the Complaint and this action must be and are dismissed.
In the introduction to the Complaint Jara spells defendant's name "Schenker," while Complaint ¶2 spells the name "Schlender." Because both of those appear to be obvious typographical mistakes, this memorandum order spells defendant's name in conformity with the case caption and a few other Complaint paragraphs.
This Court does not of course criticize Jara for his lack of understanding of the limitations that apply to federal courts--limitations that no nonlawyer could reasonably be expected to know. Simply put, all such courts may entertain lawsuits only to the extent that Congress has specifically vested that power in them. In particular, a medical malpractice action such as this one is not within a federal court's jurisdiction because there is no diversity of citizenship between Jara and Dr. Schlenker--that is, both of them are citizens of the State of Illinois.
That being the case, an immediate dismissal is called for, and this Court so orders. That disposition also calls for denial of Jara's In Forma Pauperis Application and Motion for Appointment of Counsel (both of which were prepared on forms provided by the Clerk's Office) on grounds of mootness.
One other matter should be made clear. Although such a dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is technically without prejudice to Jara's right to proceed against Dr. Schlenker in a state court of competent jurisdiction, this Court expresses no views as to the possible untimeliness of Jara's action under the applicable statute of limitations, or for that matter as to any other substantive issue.
Milton I. Shadur
Senior United States District Judge