Opinion
3:13-cv-00679-RCJ-WGC
07-23-2014
HASSAN ROBERTS, Plaintiff, v. TRACIE K. LINDEMAN; and L. HAMILTON, Defendants.
ORDER
Pro se Plaintiff Hassan Roberts, a prisoner at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center, petitions for a writ commanding Defendants, as clerks at the Nevada Supreme Court, to docket a filing in which he appears to seek the "ouster" of various state court judges. (Mot. for Writ, ECF No. 1; Mot. for Writ, ECF No. 1-1; Mot. for Writ, ECF No. 1-2). Plaintiff alleges that Defendants have refused and returned the filing. (Mot. for Writ, ECF No. 1, at 2). For the reasons stated herein, Plaintiff's petition is denied, and this case is closed.
The All Writs Act provides that "[t]he Supreme Court and all courts established by Act of Congress may issue all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of their respective jurisdictions and agreeable to the usages and principles of law." 28 U.S.C. § 1651. Although the All Writs Act authorizes writs of mandamus, federal district courts are without power to issue mandamus to direct state courts, state judicial officers, or other state officials in the performance of their duties, and a petition for such a writ is legally frivolous. See Demos v. U.S. District Court, 925 F.2d 1160, 1161 (9th Cir. 1991) ("We further note that this court lacks jurisdiction to issue a writ of mandamus to a state court."); Clark v. Washington, 366 F.2d 678, 681 (9th Cir. 1966) ("The federal courts are without power to issue writs of mandamus to direct state courts or their judicial officers in the performance of their duties[.]"). Accordingly, this Court lacks jurisdiction to grant the relief Plaintiff seeks, and this action must be dismissed.
CONCLUSION
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff's motion for a writ of prohibition (ECF No. 1) is DENIED. This case is closed and the Clerk of the Court shall enter judgment accordingly.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
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ROBERT C. JONES
United States District Judge