Brickey v. United States

116 Fed. Cl. 71, 2014 U.S. Claims LEXIS 339, 2014 WL 1775329
United States Court of Federal Claims·Decided May 2, 2014·No. No. 13-346C·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

ORDER

HORN, J.

Pro se plaintiff Herman Leon Brickey filed what he identified as an “ADMINISTRATIVE TORT CLAIM NO. TRT-SCR-2012-03822”1 in the United States Court of Federal Claims, although he titled and referred to his complaint as filed “IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS SAN ANTONIO DIVISION.” Plaintiffs two page, handwritten complaint is styled as a letter to a judge, albeit with the caption typical of a complaint. Based on the attachments included with plaintiffs complaint, it appears that on October 16, 2012, plaintiff filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division, alleging that he was wrongfully imprisoned “FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM” in federal prisons in Oklahoma and Texas. Plaintiff states that he “WANT[S] $50,000.00 FOR PUNITIVE DAMAGES AND MENTAL ANGUISH I HAVE SUFFERED THRU 45 YRS OF MENTAL ANGUISH, TURNED DOWN MANY TIMES FOR JOBS AS BEING A FELON !” Plaintiff adds:

MY TOTAL OWED ME IS $74,640.00. I AWAIT MY JUST PAYMENT FROM UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT FOR WRONGFUL IMPRISONMENT. I AM OWED RIGHTFUL PAYMENT, AND HOPE JUSTICE WILL BE GRANTED ME, SOMETHING ?

Plaintiff’s October 16, 2012 complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas was dismissed [74] “without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction.” See Herman Leon Brickey v. United States, Case No. 5:12-CV-00991 (W.D.Tex. Mar. 19, 2013).2

Plaintiff attached multiple documents to his complaint filed in this court. One such document is a May 17, 2013 letter addressed to ‘Tour Honor,” apparently intended for a judge of this court. In the May 17, 2013 letter plaintiff states that he “tried to get Justice and compensation for wrongful Imprisonment. Two Judges here in San Antonio Federal Court said they Lacked Jurisdiction, Judge Primomo stated in his Legal document, a Federal Claim Judge has jurisdiction.” Plaintiff adds:

I should at least be paid minimum wages for my hours I have figured out and is Just for wrongful imprisonment.
Plaintiff continues:
I sent a letter to the Federal Court here to a Federal Claim Judge to Forward to him, I called several days, later to Clerks [sic] Office and they said they put my letter in the Files and closed my case and did not Forward my letter to a Federal Claim Judge, this is Not Justice. I am 68 yrs old 3-1-45 on Disability, I Hope you will pay me some compensation.

As another attachment to the complaint, plaintiff submitted a photocopy of a March 12, 2008 “Certificate of Pardon Issued to Herman Leon Brickey,” pursuant to a Proclamation of Pardon, dated January 21, 1977, issued by President Jimmy Carter. The photocopy of the Certificate of Pardon submitted with plaintiffs complaint is cut off on the right hand margin, making certain words difficult to read. The photocopy of the Certificate of Pardon appears to grant Mr. Brickey a pardon from his conviction for violation of the Military Selective Service Act “irrespective of the dat [sic] of any offense against the United States of America----”

Plaintiffs complaint in this court was filed without the requisite filing fee, or a motion to proceed in forma pauperis. Instead, Mr. Brickey attached the Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis he had previously filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas ease. In plaintiffs October 16, 2012 Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis submitted to the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, plaintiff indicated that he had been unemployed since August 1999. He indicated his only sources of income were a social security supplement, social security disability and food stamps. He also claimed he did not have any cash on hand or money in a savings or checking account. He noted that he had a 1998 Mercury Marquis with 230,000 miles with an estimated value of $500.00. He stated on his Application that he “CAN BARELY AFFORD GAS FOR MY CAR, AS I NEED IT TO GO TO STORE AND DOCTORS OFFICE.”

In response to plaintiffs complaint, defendant filed a motion to dismiss plaintiffs complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (RCFC) (2013), or, in the alternative, RCFC 12(b)(6), for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Defendant argues that plaintiffs complaint, which defendant construes as “one for compensation based upon unjust conviction and imprisonment pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1495 and 28 U.S.C. § 2513,” does not comply with the statutory requirements specified in 28 U.S.C. § 2513,3 and, therefore, should be dismissed. [75] To date, plaintiff has not responded to the government’s motion to dismiss, although plaintiff has been allotted more time than provided for under the court’s Rules.

DISCUSSION

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Brickey v. United States, 116 Fed. Cl. 71, 2014 U.S. Claims LEXIS 339, 2014 WL 1775329 (uscfc 2014).

116 Fed. Cl. 71 (Brickey v. United States) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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