Hymas v. United States Department of Interior

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Washington
DecidedMay 7, 2020
Docket4:20-cv-05036
StatusUnknown

This text of Hymas v. United States Department of Interior (Hymas v. United States Department of Interior) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hymas v. United States Department of Interior, (E.D. Wash. 2020).

Opinion

1 EASTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON May 07, 2020 2 SEAN F. MCAVOY, CLERK UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 3 EASTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON

4 JAY HYMAS d/b/a DOSMAN No. 4:20-cv-05036-SMJ FARMS, 5 Plaintiff, ORDER TO AMEND OR 6 VOLUNTARILY DISMISS AND v. DENYING MOTION FOR 7 INJUNCTION WITH LEAVE TO UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF RENEW 8 INTERIOR,

9 Defendant.

10 11 On February 25, 2020, Plaintiff filed a “Complaint and Request for Injunctive 12 Relief and Restraining Order,” ECF No. 1. Plaintiff appears to challenge Defendant 13 United States Department of Interior’s land leasing practices, alleging it fails to 14 comply with the competition and notice requirements in the Federal Grant and 15 Cooperative Agreement Act (FGCAA), the Competition in Contracting Act 16 (CICA), and the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). Id. Plaintiff also makes 17 unclear allegations related to Defendant’s conduct in removing an irrigation system 18 and seeding property and regarding a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request 19 Plaintiff asserts he submitted to Defendant. Id. at 2. Plaintiff also filed a “Motion 20 for Injunctive Relief Expedited Relief Requested and Bid Protest.” ECF No. 9. 1 Plaintiff also filed an application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, ECF 2 No. 2. The Court subsequently denied Plaintiff’s application with leave to renew,

3 and denied Plaintiff’s renewed application, again with leave to renew. ECF Nos. 4, 4 10 & 11. The Court has also denied Plaintiff’s request for temporary restraining 5 order within the Complaint. ECF No. 5. For the reasons discussed below, the Court

6 orders Plaintiff to amend or voluntarily dismiss the Complaint. 7 LEGAL STANDARD 8 When a pro se litigant seeks to proceed in forma pauperis, the Court must 9 screen the complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) to determine legal sufficiency.1

10 The Court must dismiss the action if it is “frivolous or malicious;” “fails to state a 11 claim upon which relief can be granted;” or “seeks monetary relief from a defendant 12 who is immune from such relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B).

13 “The language of section 1915(e)(2), as it applies to dismissals for failure to 14 state a claim, ‘parallels the language of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).’” 15 Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1127 (9th Cir. 2000) (en banc) (citing Barren v. 16 Harrington, 152 F.3d 1193, 1194 (9th Cir. 1998)). A claim is legally frivolous when

18 1 “Although §§ 1915 and 1915A reference ‘prisoners,’ they are not limited to prisoner suits. Therefore, a court has an obligation to review a complaint filed by 19 any person proceeding in forma pauperis.” Buchinger v. County of Spokane, No. CV-08-0388-EFS, 2009 WL 537511, at *1 (E.D. Wash. Feb. 27, 2009) (citations 20 omitted) (citing United States v. Floyd, 105 F.3d 274, 276 (6th Cir. 1997), modified on other grounds by Callihan v. Schneider, 178 F.3d 800 (6th Cir. 1997)). 1 it lacks arguable substance in law and fact. Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 2 1227–28 (9th Cir. 1984). The Court may, therefore, dismiss a claim as frivolous

3 where it is based on an indisputably meritless legal theory or where the factual 4 contentions are clearly baseless. See Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 327 (1989). 5 The frivolity standard is similar to the test for dismissal of pro se complaints for

6 failure to state a claim. Franklin, 745 F.2d at 1228. 7 A complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing 8 that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). The facts alleged in a 9 complaint are to be taken as true and must “plausibly give rise to an entitlement to

10 relief.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 679 (2009). This standard “does not require 11 detailed factual allegations, but it demands more than an unadorned, the defendant- 12 unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” Id. at 678 (internal quotation marks omitted).

13 While the Court draws all reasonable inferences in Plaintiff’s favor, see 14 Sheppard v. David Evans & Assocs., 694 F.3d 1045, 1051 (9th Cir. 2012), it need 15 not accept “naked assertions devoid of further factual enhancement,” Iqbal, 556 16 U.S. at 678 (internal quotation marks and brackets omitted). In other words, mere

17 legal conclusions “are not entitled to the assumption of truth.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. 18 at 679. 19 //

20 // 1 DISCUSSION 2 A. Plaintiff has failed to establish standing to bring his claims

3 The jurisdiction of the federal courts is limited by the United States 4 Constitution to justiciable “Cases” and “Controversies.” U.S. Const. art. III, § 2. 5 “Standing to sue is a doctrine rooted in the traditional understanding of a case or

6 controversy.” Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540, 1547 (2016). To establish 7 standing, a plaintiff must show that he has “(1) suffered an injury in fact, (2) that is 8 fairly traceable to the challenged conduct of the defendant, and (3) that is likely to 9 be redressed by a favorable judicial decision.” Id. (citing Lujan v. Defs. of Wildlife,

10 504 U.S. 555, 560–61 (1992)). “A suit brought by a plaintiff without Article III 11 standing is not a ‘case or controversy,’ and an Article III federal court therefore 12 lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the suit.” Cetacean Cmty. v. Bush, 386

13 F.3d 1169, 1174 (9th Cir. 2004) (citing Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env’t, 523 14 U.S. 83, 101 (1998)). At the pleading stage, “the plaintiff must ‘clearly . . . allege 15 facts demonstrating’ each element” of the threshold standing inquiry. Spokeo, Inc., 16 136 S. Ct. at 1547 (quoting Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 518 (1975)).

17 Plaintiff does not directly allege that he has been injured in any way by 18 Defendant’s allegedly unlawful actions, nor do Plaintiff’s minimal, vague 19 assertions suggest he has suffered any injury. See ECF No. 1. Plaintiff makes a

20 vague reference to “all prejudiced farmers nationally,” but does not indicate 1 whether he falls into this group or describe how he was “prejudiced.” ECF No. 1 2 at 3. Plaintiff also asserts that Defendant wasted taxpayer funds in seeding land after

3 removing an irrigation system. ECF No. 1 at 3. However, even if the Court were to 4 infer from this allegation an attempt to establish standing as to a claim for alleged 5 waste of funds, Plaintiff’s taxpayer status is insufficient to establish standing. Ariz.

6 Christian Sch. Tuition Org. v. Winn, 563 U.S. 125, 134 (2011) (“Absent special 7 circumstances, however, standing cannot be based on a plaintiff’s mere status as a 8 taxpayer.”). As such, Plaintiff has failed to establish standing and this Court lacks 9 jurisdiction over the Complaint.

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Hymas v. United States Department of Interior, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hymas-v-united-states-department-of-interior-waed-2020.