Fletcher v. United States Post Office

Opinion

fm

FILED

DEC1 820n

C|erk, U.S. Distn'

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

DEBORAH DIANE FLETCHER, ) C°""S ?Of the Disi:ri'r,i §fa@lc()r|iimbia

Plaintiff, § v. § Civil Action No.

U.S. POST OFFlCE (MANAGER), §

Defendant. § MEMORANDUM OPINION

The plaintiff has filed an application to proceed in forma pauperis and a pro se complaint. The application will be granted, and the complaint will be dismissed.

Plaintiff recently "purchase[d] a money order in the amount of $118.52 to pay a Verizon bill," and the money order allegedly "was cash[ed] by an unknown person." Compl. at 2 (page number designated by the Court). Because of this incident and others which had occurred previously in Florida, "Plaintiff have [sic] strong reasons to believe that mail fraud had been going on for continues [sic] of years.” ld. She demands damages of $l .5 million, "for prejudice plus the price of said money order, if the post mailman had any conection [sic] with the stolen money order." ]a'.

The Court has reviewed plaintiffs complaint, keeping in mind that complaints filed by pro se litigants are held to less stringent standards than those applied to formal pleadings drafted by lawyers. See Haines v. Kerner_. 404 U.S. 519, 520 (1972). Even pro se litigants, however, must comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Jarrell v. Tz`sch, 656 F. Supp. 237, 239 (D.D.C. 1987). Rule S(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires that a complaint

contain a short and plain statement of the grounds upon which the court’s jurisdiction depends, a

short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief, and a demand for judgment for the relief the pleader seeks. Fed. R. Civ. P. S(a). Plaintiff’ s complaint fails to meet this minimal pleading standard, and, accordingly, it will be dismissed without prejudice.

An Order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.

DATE; ~”"‘

United`$fa`fes District Judge j ;,[ t 7/( t z___