Fuselier v. United States

63 Fed. Cl. 8, 2004 U.S. Claims LEXIS 304, 2004 WL 2676333
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedNovember 18, 2004
DocketNo. 04-951 T
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 63 Fed. Cl. 8 (Fuselier 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
Fuselier v. United States, 63 Fed. Cl. 8, 2004 U.S. Claims LEXIS 304, 2004 WL 2676333 (uscfc 2004).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

BLOCK, Judge.

Plaintiff, Richard Fuselier, has demonstrated a propensity to beat dead horses in more ways than one. First, in his numerous filings in this case,2 he has trotted out again [10]*10and again a familiar set of specious arguments. Second, plaintiff has filed multiple separate cases in this court that are little more than re-runs of the same specious arguments. See below. Third, plaintiff apparently is part of an increasing number of misguided individuals who are unable to restrain themselves from making the same specious arguments. See below.

The defendant has opposed each of plaintiffs filings and has filed a motion to dismiss the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The court dismisses plaintiffs complaint (and all other items that might be construed as claims for relief) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

Plaintiffs claims are not easy to interpret. However, giving his many filings the liberal reading afforded to pro se plaintiffs, Forshey v. Principi, 284 F.3d 1335, 1357-58 (Fed.Cir.2002) (en banc), it seems that plaintiff has asked this court to review tax deficiency cases, enjoin IRS collection activities, rule that IRS collection activities are res judicata, and generally review administrative records. By using the words “due process,” plaintiff may have raised a due process claim. Plaintiff has presented the argument that wages are not subject to taxation. Plaintiff has also claimed that a fiduciary duty or the joinder rule (see RCFC 18) permit him to represent his “clients” before this court even though he is not an attorney.

The Court of Federal Claims “has jurisdiction only where and to the extent that the government has waived its sovereign immunity, and any waiver of sovereign immunity cannot be implied but must be unequivocally expressed.” Ledford v. United States, 297 F.3d 1378, 1381 (2002) (punctuation omitted). To survive a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction (see RCFC 12(b)(1)), the plaintiff must point to a statute that specifically confers power upon this court to grant the relief he has requested. Id.

Plaintiff has failed to establish that this court has jurisdiction over any of his claims. He has failed to point to a statute [11]*11granting this court authority to review deficiency cases. This is not surprising, because the United States Tax Court, and not this court, has jurisdiction over deficiency cases. See 26 U.S.C. § 6213(a). The Court of Federal Claims does, however, have jurisdiction over tax refund cases. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(a)(1), 1491. But plaintiff does not allege that he has paid taxes or that he seeks a refund. On the contrary, the pleadings specifically refer to a notice of deficiency. Thus, this court lacks jurisdiction over plaintiffs tax deficiency claim. See Ledford, 297 F.3d at 1382.

Plaintiff has failed to point to a statute granting this court authority to stay IRS collection activities. The plaintiff cited several statutes and regulations,3 but none of these come even close to conferring jurisdiction on this court. On the contrary, 26 U.S.C. § 7421 prohibits suits “for the purpose of restraining the assessment or collection of any tax ... in any court by any person.” It is trae that § 7421 lists statutes that provide exceptions to its general rule, but none of these apply in this case. Plaintiff has also failed to point to a statute granting this court authority to conduct a general review of IRS administrative records.

This court clearly has no jurisdiction over any due process claim that plaintiff may have raised. See, e.g., Murray v. United States, 817 F.2d 1580, 1582-83 (Fed.Cir.1987); Medina Constr., Ltd. v. United States, 43 Fed.Cl. 537, 558 (1999). Plaintiffs nonsensical invocation of res judicata (generally a defense preventing either litigation of issues that could have been but were not raised in prior litigation or relitigation of issues already decided) does not trigger this court’s jurisdiction. Likewise, plaintiffs claim that wages are not subject to taxation has been so soundly rejected that plaintiff has risked the imposition of sanctions by raising this argument at all. See, e.g., Casper v. Comm’r, 805 F.2d 902, 906 (10th Cir.1986) (“Merely raising the argument that value received for labor does not constitute taxable income, but rather constitutes a nontaxable exchange of property, justifies the imposition of sanctions.”); Connor v. Comm’r, 770 F.2d 17, 20 (2d Cir.1985) (“Wages are income. The argument that they are not has been rejected so frequently that the very raising of it justifies the imposition of sanctions.”); Lovell v. United States, 755 F.2d 517, 519-20 (7th Cir.1984) (per curiam).

Finally, plaintiff, a non-attorney, cannot pursue the claims of others or represent others before this court. Under RCFC 83.1(a), only “attorneys who are members of the bar of this court and who comply with these rales” are permitted to “enter an appearance, file pleadings, and practice in this court.” RCFC 83.1(c)(8) provides that “[a]n individual may represent oneself or a member of one’s immediate family as a party before the court. Any other party, however, must be represented by an attorney who is admitted to practice in this court.”

Neither plaintiffs misreading of the joinder rule (see RCFC 18) nor his fiduciary duty argument can save his failure to comply with RCFC 83.1. RCFC 18 permits a party properly before this court to “join, either as independent or as alternate claims, as many claims as the party has against an opposing party.” Id. Likewise, a “third party may join, to the extent permitted by law, as many claims as the party has against the opposing party.” Id. Absolutely nothing in this language comes even close to permitting the unauthorized practice of law. Likewise, certainly no fiduciary duty, “[a] duty of utmost good faith, trust, confidence, and candor ... a duty to act with the highest degree of honesty and loyalty toward another person and in the best interests of the other person” (Black’s Law Dictionary 523 (7th Ed.1999)), permits plaintiff to engage in the unauthorized practice of law.

Unfortunately, plaintiff has attempted to engage in the unauthorized practice of law before this court on multiple prior occasions. Naming himself as plaintiff while pursuing the claims of other parties, plaintiff has filed the following eases in this court (all dismissed): Fuselier v. United States, Fed.Cl. No. 03-1750T; Fuselier v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
63 Fed. Cl. 8, 2004 U.S. Claims LEXIS 304, 2004 WL 2676333, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fuselier-v-united-states-uscfc-2004.