Opinion
No. 1:14 CV 236
02-17-2015
CHANSE T. STARR, Plaintiff, v. FORT WAYNE POLICE DEPT. et al., Defendants.
OPINION and ORDER
Chanse T. Starr, a pro se prisoner, filed this case in an attempt to remove a state court case that he filed in the Allen Superior Court under cause number 02C01-1301-CT-5. "A document filed pro se is to be liberally construed, and a pro se complaint, however inartfully pleaded, must be held to less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers." Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (quotation marks and citations omitted). Nevertheless, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A, the court must review the merits of a prisoner complaint and dismiss it if the action is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief.
In the state court case, Starr is the plaintiff and he cannot remove a case that he himself filed, since removal applies to defendants. See 28 U.S.C. § 1441. "Almost 70 years ago, the Supreme Court concluded that a litigant who files suit in state court is a 'plaintiff' and cannot remove the case . . .." First Bank v. DJL Prop., LLC, 598 F.3d 915, 916 (7th Cir. 2010). See also Lawrence v. Sec'y of State, 467 Fed. Appx. 523, 2012 WL 2153155 (7th Cir. May 3, 2012) ("[A] plaintiff cannot remove his own case."). Because a plaintiff cannot remove his own case from state court to federal court, the filing of this proceeding was frivolous.
For the foregoing reasons, this case is DISMISSED pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A.
SO ORDERED.
Date: February 17, 2015
s/James T. Moody
JUDGE JAMES T. MOODY
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT