Brown v. United States

88 Fed. Cl. 322, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 283, 2009 WL 2575994
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedAugust 12, 2009
DocketNo. 09-354C
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 88 Fed. Cl. 322 (Brown v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brown v. United States, 88 Fed. Cl. 322, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 283, 2009 WL 2575994 (uscfc 2009).

Opinion

OPINION

HORN, Judge.

The plaintiff’s complaint seeks declaratory relief, pursuant to the Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201 (2006) and the United States Constitution, against, among others, President Barack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of State Hillary Rod-ham Clinton, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, the United States Department of Justice, former President George W. Bush, former Attorney General John Ashcroft, former United States Attorney Richard S. Thompson, the United States Supreme Court, the United States Senate, and the United States House of Representatives.

Mr. Brown’s complaint is difficult to follow and fails to raise legitimate issues over which the United States Court of Federal Claims has jurisdiction. Among other requests, Mr. Brown’s complaint presents four questions to the court: 1) “whether a citizen has a constitutional right to report criminal activity?”; 2) “how many times does a citizen have to report a crime to law enforcement agencies before he receives a response?”; 3) “if the executive branch has exclusive authority and absolute discretion to investigate criminal activity, which or what crimes are discretional [sic] that the executive branch officers can withhold their ministerial duty?”; and 4) “if the executive, the legislative and the judicial branches of the government all have officers who have sworned [sic] an oath to uphold the written Constitution of the United States, do these officials have ministerial duties owed to the citizens of the United States?”

Mr. Brown alleges that he has reported criminal violations on the part of federal and state government officials and courts by sending complaints via certified mail, to various high officials, including the individuals named above, which were received, but not addressed by the recipients. Plaintiff claims that because he reported criminal violations, the executive officials to whom he reported had a duty to investigate and that their “decision not to comply to the federal statutes or regulations clearly shows a breach of that duty.” Plaintiff complains that the failure to investigate complaints he filed showed “deliberate indifference” and “gross negligence.” Plaintiff seeks a declaratory judgment, apparently to find the government officials at fault and to direct those authorities to investigate and prosecute his reports of criminal activity.

Plaintiff also alleges criminal misconduct on the part of the United States Supreme Court, United States Courts of Appeal and United States District Courts because they dismissed the plaintiff’s prior claims. Specifically, the plaintiff claims that these courts exceeded their constitutional authority and violated constitutional precedents when they assumed jurisdiction to decide the validity of petitioner’s claims without an evidentiary hearing. Plaintiff claims that this court, therefore, should issue a declaratory judgment to confine the federal courts to them proper jurisdiction. Plaintiff asserts that the various courts (1) improperly transferred his case, and (2) improperly considered a habeas corpus petition as a civil complaint and motion to proceed without prepayment of fees. Plaintiff, therefore, states: “The United States Court of Federal Claims should grant the petitioner [sic] petition because the United States District Court, the United States Court [sic] of Appeals [sic] and the Supreme Court of the United States failed in their duty to envision the constitutional principles of cheeks and balances to keep the executive, congressional and judicial branches of the government within their respecting [sic] constitutional domains by rejecting the petition as a ‘no lawsuit’ bona fide controversay [sic] as to whether some action denominated political exceeds constitutional authority.”

DISCUSSION

The court notes that when determining whether a complaint filed by a pro se [326]*326plaintiff is sufficient to invoke review by a court, pro se plaintiffs are entitled to liberal construction of their pleadings. See Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520-21, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (requiring that allegations contained in a pro se complaint be held to “less stringent standards than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers”), reh’g denied, 405 U.S. 948, 92 S.Ct. 963, 30 L.Ed.2d 819 (1972); see also Hughes v. Rowe, 449 U.S. 5, 9-10, 101 S.Ct. 173, 66 L.Ed.2d 163 (1980); Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 106, 97 S.Ct. 285, 50 L.Ed.2d 251 (1976), reh’g denied, 429 U.S. 1066, 97 S.Ct. 798, 50 L.Ed.2d 785 (1977). However, “there is no ‘duty [on the part] of the trial court ... to create a claim which [plaintiff] has not spelled out in his [or her] pleading....’” Scogin v. United States, 33 Fed.Cl. 285, 293 (1995) (quoting Clark v. Nat’l Travelers Life Ins. Co., 518 F.2d 1167, 1169 (6th Cir.1975)) (alterations in original); see also Minehan v. United States, 75 Fed.Cl. 249, 253 (2007).

“Subject matter jurisdiction may be challenged at any time by the parties, or by the court sua sponte.” Folden v. United States, 379 F.3d 1344, 1354 (Fed.Cir.2004), reh’g and reh’g en banc denied (Fed.Cir.), cert. denied, 545 U.S. 1127, 125 S.Ct. 2935, 162 L.Ed.2d 865 (2005); see also Rick’s Mushroom Serv., Inc. v. United States, 521 F.3d 1338, 1346 (Fed.Cir.2008); Fanning, Phillips, Molnar v. West, 160 F.3d 717, 720 (Fed.Cir.1998) (quoting Booth v. United States, 990 F.2d 617, 620 (Fed.Cir.), reh’g denied (Fed.Cir.1993)); United States v. Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., 933 F.2d 996, 998 n. 1 (Fed.Cir.1991); North Star Alaska Hous. Corp. v. United States, 76 Fed.Cl. 158, 185, appeal dismissed, 226 Fed.Appx. 1004 (2007). “In fact, a court has a duty to inquire into its jurisdiction to hear and decide a case.” Special Devices, Inc. v. OEA, Inc., 269 F.3d 1340, 1342 (Fed.Cir.2001) (citing Johannsen v. Pay Less Drug Stores Northwest, Inc., 918 F.2d 160, 161 (Fed.Cir.1990)); see also View Eng’g, Inc. v. Robotic Vision Sys., Inc., 115 F.3d 962, 963 (Fed.Cir.1997) (“[C]ourts must always look to their jurisdiction, whether the parties raise the issue or not.”).

Pursuant to Rule 8(a) of the United States Court of Federal Claims (RCFC) and Rule 8(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a plaintiff need only state in the complaint “a short and plain statement of the grounds for the court’s jurisdiction,” and “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” RCFC 8(a)(1), (2); Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(1), (2) See Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007).

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Bluebook (online)
88 Fed. Cl. 322, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 283, 2009 WL 2575994, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brown-v-united-states-uscfc-2009.