Opinion
Civil Action No. 17-2100 (ABJ)
10-25-2017
ANFERNEE WALKER and NICOLE HARGER, on behalf of minor child, Plaintiffs, v. SCOTT W. SCHMOELLER, in his individual and official capacity, et al., Defendants.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter was removed to this Court from the Superior Court of the District of Columbia ("Superior Court") pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1446. The Court will dismiss the case without prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction since the action was no longer pending at the time it was removed. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(h)(3) (requiring the court to dismiss an action "at any time" it determines that subject matter jurisdiction is wanting).
The Superior Court dismissed the case on October 06, 2017. See Dkt. # 4 at 2, 6. ("Plaintiff having failed to file an affidavit evidencing service on the defendant within the time frame allowed by Rule 4 (m), the Clerk hereby enters a dismissal of the complaint without prejudice."). Defendants did not file a Notice of Removal with this Court until October 10, 2017, four days after the case had already been dismissed. See Dkt. # 1.
Therefore, this Court has no subject matter jurisdiction since the action was not pending at the time of its removal, and the case will be dismissed without prejudice. See 28 U.S.C.§ 1446(b)(1) ("A defendant or defendants desiring to remove any civil action from a State court shall file in the district court of the United States for the district and division within which such action is pending. . .") (emphasis added). A separate order of dismissal accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.
SO ORDERED.
/s/_________
AMY BERMAN JACKSON
United States District Judge DATE: October 25, 2017