Abiodun v. Holder

86 F. Supp. 3d 11, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41609, 2015 WL 1506083
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedMarch 31, 2015
DocketCivil Action No. 14-0689 (KBJ)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 86 F. Supp. 3d 11 (Abiodun v. Holder) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Abiodun v. Holder, 86 F. Supp. 3d 11, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41609, 2015 WL 1506083 (D.D.C. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Benad Abiodun (“Abiodun”), has filed the instant pro se action against Eric H. Holder, Jr., the Attorney General of the United States (the “Government”), challenging the Government’s denial of his naturalization application, his deportation to Nigeria, and the underlying state law narcotics conviction that led to the denial of his naturalization application and his deportation. This Court previously granted Abiodun’s motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis and accepted his complaint for filing after initial review. (See Fiat Order of April 3, 2014.) Nevertheless, this Court has a continuing obligation under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)® to dismiss any informa pauperis complaint that it determines is “frivolous or malicious.” Because it is now apparent that Abiodun has pursued the relief that he seeks here ad nauseam in the Colorado courts — in at least 12 different suits — this Court finds that his current complaint is frivolous and [12]*12malicious under section 1915(e)(2)(B)®. Accordingly, this Court is obliged to DISMISS his complaint. Id.

Background

Abiodun is a citizen and national of Nigeria, who lawfully entered the United States and became a permanent resident in 1996. Abiodun v. Gonzales, 461 F.3d 1210, 1211 (10th Cir.2006). He filed an application with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”) to become a naturalized citizen of the United States in January of 2001. Id. at 1212.1 In April of 2002, after Abiodun had completed the naturalization application process but before INS had made a final decision on his application, a Colorado jury convicted Abiodun of two counts of distribution of a controlled substance and two counts of possession of a controlled substance. People v. Abiodun, 111 P.3d 462, 464 (Colo.2005). The trial court sentenced Abiodun to four concurrent four-year terms of imprisonment. Id. The Colorado appellate courts affirmed his distribution convictions, but vacated his possession convictions. Id. As a result of his drug distribution convictions, on October 4, 2004, the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services denied his application for naturalization. Abiodun, 461 F.3d at 1212.

In July of 2002, and also as a result of his drug convictions, the INS commenced removal proceedings against Abiodun by issuing a warrant for his arrest and notice to appear, and filing a detainer with the Colorado prison authorities. Id. An immigration judge entered a final order of removal in May of 2005, which both the Board of Immigration Appeals and the Tenth Circuit affirmed. Id. at 1211. On June 3, 2008, DHS removed Abiodun from the United States to Nigeria, where he currently resides. Abiodun v. Holder, No. 09cv00503, 2009 WL 1688767, at *1 (D.Colo. June 12, 2009). As a result of his conviction and deportation, Abiodun cannot reenter the United States for 20 years without a waiver from the Attorney General. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(9).

Abiodun has filed no fewer than 12 lawsuits in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado challenging, among other things, the circumstances surrounding his conviction, the denial of his naturalization application, and his subsequent deportation. See Abiodun v. Holder, No. 11cv02113, 2012 WL 3844912, at *2-4 (D.Colo. Aug. 9, 2012) (detailing Abiodun’s Colorado litigation history), adopted by 2012 WL 3844810 (D.Colo. Sept. 5, 2012). Some of these lawsuits were petitions for writs of habeas corpus (see, e.g., Abiodun v. Maurer, No. 05cv00352, 2006 WL 559244 (D.Colo. Mar. 3, 2006)), while others were tort and civil rights actions (see, e.g., Abiodun v. Ortiz, No. 06cv02463 (D.Colo. Dec. 26, 2006); Abiodun v. Maurer, No, 07cv02431 (D.Colo. Aug. 6, 2008)). It is particularly significant here that, in light of his repeated lawsuits, the Colorado federal court has found that Abiodun has engaged in “abusive filing behavior” and has issued a pre-filing injunction that bars him from filing any new actions in that court except under certain circumstances. See Abiodun, 2012 WL 3844912, at *4-5 (noting that Abiodun “has repeatedly challenged the denial of his petition for naturalization, the fact and length of his detention pend[13]*13ing removal, the order of removal, and his removal despite being told that the claims are barred by Heck [v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477, 114 S.Ct. 2364, 129 L.Ed.2d 383 (1994) ] and res judicata and that they are repetitive, frivolous, and malicious”), adopted by 2012 WL 3844810, at *1.

The Colorado filing injunction apparently has not prevented Abiodun from continuing his litigation quest, albeit in a different venue. The complaint he has filed in the instant case restates each claim that was made in at least one, if not multiple, of his 12 prior failed suits; to wit: that DHS improperly denied his naturalization application, that the removal proceedings were invalid, that DHS’s arrest and detention of him were unlawful, that DHS officials retaliated against him based First Amendment protected activity, that he should be readmitted to the United States and naturalized, and that his underlying conviction is unconstitutional. See, e.g., Abiodun, 2012 WL 3844912, at *24 (describing litigation history). Indeed, the Government here has filed a motion to dismiss that restates many, if not all, of the arguments it raised in Abiodun’s prior suits. Compare, e.g., Mot. to Dismiss, ECF No. 9, at 10-11 (Heck v. Humphrey bars Abiodun’s claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983) with Abiodun v. United States, No. 07cv1713, 2007 WL 2782542, at *1 (D.Colo. Sept. 20, 2007) (holding that Heck v. Humphrey bars Abiodun’s claims under the FTCA).2

Analysis

An individual’s right to access to the courts “is neither absolute nor unconditional.” In re Green, 669 F.2d 779, 785 (D.C.Cir.1981) (per curiam), abrogation on other grounds recognized by Hurt v. Social Sec. Admin., 544 F.3d 308, 310 (D.C.Cir.2008). To that end, section 1915(e) of Title 28 requires a court to dismiss an in forma pauperis complaint upon a determination that, among other grounds, it is frivolous or malicious. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i). The purpose of this requirement is “to discourage the filing of, and waste of judicial and private resources upon, baseless lawsuits that paying litigants generally do not initiate because of the costs of bringing suit and because of the threat of sanctions for bringing vexatious suits under

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Bluebook (online)
86 F. Supp. 3d 11, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 41609, 2015 WL 1506083, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/abiodun-v-holder-dcd-2015.