Allen v. Boehner

• Court: District Court, District of Columbia
• Decided: December 2, 2013
• Docket: Civil Action No. 2013-1893
• Status: Published

Opinion

FILED

UNITED STATES DISTRICT CoURT DEC ' 2 2013 FoR THE DISTRICT oF CQLIJMBIA C'°"<- U-S- D*Sfrl¢=f & Bankrvr)tcy courts for the Dlstr|ct of columbia

WARREN H. ALLEN, JR., ) )

Plainriff, )

)

v. ) civil Acri@n N@. /_? ~ /¢°9.?

sENAToR JoHN BoEHNER, ) )

Defendant. )

MEM0RANDUM oPlNloN

This matter comes before the Court upon review of plaintiffs application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis and pro se complaint. The application will be granted but the

complaint will be dismissed.

Plaintiff, who purports to bring his action on behalf of his "fellow veterans and veterans serving now in uniform," asserts that the recent government shut down "is not legal." Compl. at l, Generally, plaintiff contends that "Senator John Boehner and his Tea Party members . . . kidnapped the White House, [held] the government as hostages, and [held] Obamacare as

ransom." ld.

“Article lII of the United States Constitution limits the judicial power to deciding ‘Cases and Controversies."’ In re Navy Chaplaz'ncy, 534 F.3d 756, 759 (D.C. Cir. 2008) (quoting U.S. Const. art. IlI, § 2), cert. dem`ed, __ U.S. __, 129 S. Ct. 1918 (2009). A party has standing for purposes of Article llI if his claims "spring from an ‘injury in fact’ -- an invasion of a legally

protected interest that is ‘concrete and particularized,’ ‘actual or imminent’ and ‘fairly traceable’

to the challenged act of the defendant, and likely to be redressed by a favorable decision in the federal court." Navegar, Inc. v. United States, 103 F.3d 994, 998 (D.C. Cir. 1997) (quoting Lujan v. Defena’ers of Wz`ldlzfe, 504 U.S. 555, 560-61 (1992)). Standing may be denied to a

litigant who seeks to assert the rights of a third party. Navegar, 103 F.3d at 998.

Here, the complaint does not demonstrate that plaintiff has suffered or stands to suffer any injury attributable to defendant’s action or inaction. And as a pro se party, plaintiff may not represent the interests of any other individuals. Id.; see also Georgiaa'es v. Martin-Trz`gona, 729 F.Zd 831, 834 (D.C. Cir. 1984) (stating that individual who "is not a member of the bar of any court . . . may appear pro se but is not qualified to appear in the District Court or in this court as

counsel for others").

The complaint will be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction An Order is

issued separately.

United States District Judge ' f