Opinion
Civil Action No. 17-1688 (UNA)
10-19-2017
Brud Rossmann, Plaintiff, v. L. Eric Patterson et al., Defendants.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter is before the Court on its initial review of plaintiff's pro se complaint and application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis. The Court will grant the in forma pauperis application and dismiss the case because the complaint fails to meet the minimal pleading requirements of Rule 8(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Pro se litigants must comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Jarrell v. Tisch, 656 F. Supp. 237, 239 (D.D.C. 1987). Rule 8(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires complaints to contain "(1) a short and plain statement of the grounds for the court's jurisdiction [and] (2) a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a); see Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678-79 (2009); Ciralsky v. CIA, 355 F.3d 661, 668-71 (D.C. Cir. 2004). The Rule 8 standard ensures that defendants receive fair notice of the claim being asserted so that they can prepare a responsive answer and an adequate defense and determine whether the doctrine of res judicata applies. Brown v. Califano, 75 F.R.D. 497, 498 (D.D.C. 1977). "[A] complaint that is excessively long, rambling, disjointed, incoherent, or full of irrelevant and confusing material does not meet [Rule 8's] liberal pleading requirement." T.M. v. D.C., 961 F. Supp. 2d 169, 174 (D.D.C. 2013).
Plaintiff sues officials of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Director in the District's Department of Employment Services, and three John Does. See Am. Compl. [Dkt. # 3]. Plaintiff seeks equitable relief and $10 million in monetary damages for "false imprisonment, false enslavement in perpetuity, worse." Id. at 25-26. The complaint is difficult to follow, and the attachments are unhelpful. Plaintiff states that he has been "trying to leave America . . . for many years, and the named defendants have blocked as much, as Principals or in Agency." Compl. at 7. When not casting aspersions on various individuals, Plaintiff boasts about his achievements in life and then alleges that he "cannot secure a passport, nor a Social Security Card" and "is proven threatened with one repeated unlawful arrest after another for one required attendance at one or another government agency . . . ." Id. The complaint is simply all over the place and thus fails to provide defendants with adequate notice of a claim and the basis of federal court jurisdiction. Consequently, this case will be dismissed without prejudice. A separate Order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion. Date: October 19, 2017
Plaintiff does not allege, for example, that he applied to the appropriate agency for a passport or social security card and was denied. See 5 U.S.C. § 702 (providing judicial review to a person "adversely affected or aggrieved by agency action within the meaning of a relevant statute"). The dismissal of this case without prejudice means that Plaintiff can file an amended complaint that complies with Rule 8's "short and plain statement" requirement, along with a separate motion to reopen the case.
/s/_________
United States District Judge