Bell-Boston v. Pittman

• Court: District Court, District of Columbia
• Decided: November 16, 2012
• Docket: Civil Action No. 2012-1857
• Status: Published

Opinion

FILED UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NOV 1 6 2012 FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Clerk, U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts for the District of Columbia

Kareemah Bell-Boston, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Civil Action No. 12 1857 ) Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, ) ) Defendant. ) )

MEMORANDUM OPINION

This matter is before the Court on the plaintiffs pro se complaint and application to

proceed in forma pauperis. The Court will grant the plaintiffs application and dismiss the

complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

The subject matter jurisdiction of the federal district courts is limited and is set forth

generally at 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1332. Under those statutes, federal jurisdiction i~ available

only when a "federal question" is presented or the parties are of diverse citizenship and the

amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. A party seeking relief in the district court must at least

plead facts that bring the suit within the court's jurisdiction. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). Failure to

plead such facts warrants dismissal ofthe action. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3).

The plaintiff is a District of Columbia resident "l'ooking to sue Martin Luther King, Jr.

Memorial Library [in the District of Columbia] for Defamation of Character." Statement ofthe

N Case at 2. Since the complaint neither presents a federal question nor provides a basis for

diversity jurisdiction, it will be dismissed. 1

DATE: October 2-/ , 2012

1 A separate Order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.