LU v. KERRY

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 21, 2025
Docket2:24-cv-01169
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
LU v. KERRY, (E.D. Pa. 2025).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

FRIEDRICH LU : : CIVIL ACTION v. : : NO. 24-1169 JOHN F. KERRY, ET AL. :

MEMORANDUM

SURRICK, J. MARCH 21, 2025

This is the latest civil action filed by pro se Plaintiff Friedrich Lu, who has filed two previous actions in this Court and more than 60 lawsuits in other federal and state courts.1 In this case, Plaintiff seeks to assert thirty-five claims against approximately 580 named defendants.2 (See Compl., ECF No. 1; Am. Compl., ECF No. 8.) Along with his initial Complaint and Amended Complaint, Plaintiff has also filed a Motion to Disqualify Entire District Court and For Intracircuit Assignment (ECF No. 2), a Motion to Redact (ECF No. 3), a Motion for Injunctive Relief Against the City of Boston (ECF No. 20), an Emergency Motion to Enjoin Joseph M. [L]ee and [His] Employee3 (ECF No. 25), a Motion to Identify Deficiency in Service of Process (ECF No. 26), and Motion to Disqualify Judge Surrick (ECF No. 35). For the following reasons, Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint will be dismissed sua sponte without prejudice, the above-referenced motions will be denied, and Plaintiff will be ordered to

1 Although Lu is pro se, he is an experienced litigant who has been advised by numerous courts about the pleading requirements necessary to establish jurisdiction and plausibly state a claim. See, e.g., Lu v. Downie, No. 15-11558, 2016 WL 3976570 (D. Mass. July 22, 2016); Lu v. Niles, No. 16-12220, 2017 WL 3027251 (D. Mass. July 17, 2017); Lu v. Laprocina, 1:21-cv-11493, 2022 WL 21769764 (D. Mass. May 31, 2022).

2 It appears that most, if not all, of the Defendants named in this action were adverse parties, their counsel, or judges involved in one or more of Lu’s previous lawsuits.

3 Joseph M. Lee and his alleged employee, identified only as “Jesús ___,” are also named as Defendants in Lu’s Amended Complaint. (Am. Compl. at 1, 1-18, 25 (ECF paginaton).) show cause why a filing injunction should not be imposed for any future filings in this Court that relate to cases that have already been litigated or are pending in this or other federal courts. I. BACKGROUND Plaintiff is a prolific and apparently undeterrable pro se litigant who has repeatedly violated a filing injunction imposed by the District of Massachusetts, where he has filed 45 civil lawsuits,

the first in 1995 and the most recent in May 2023. In response to these constant filings, the District of Massachusetts issued an Order on March 29, 2002, which stated: In his numerous filings, Lu has maligned the court and challenged its authority. Lu has also, on occasion, made veiled threats to the defendants. One of Lu’s threats in another case necessitated the issuance of a restraining order … [T]he individuals Lu sues must incur the costs associated with responding to Lu’s allegations each time he files a new case. Lu’s complaints have also significantly burdened the state and federal court systems and their limited resources.

(Lu v. Harvard School of Dental Medicine, et al., Case No. 00-cv-11492, ECF No. 49.) The Order also set forth several requirements for any future pleadings that Lu might file in the District of Massachusetts. Nevertheless, Lu repeatedly failed to comply with the Order’s terms. See, e.g., Lu v. Menino, 98 F. Supp. 3d 85, 107-09 (2015); Lu v. Niles, 2017 WL 3027251, at *2 (D. Mass. July 17, 2017); Lu v. Capitol Waste Servs., Inc., 2019 WL 8756875, at *1 (D. Mass. Sept. 19, 2019); Lu v. Clarke, 2021 WL 783964, at *1 (D. Mass. Feb. 26, 2021).4

4 Since issuance of the 2002 Injunction Order, judges in the District of Massachusetts have dismissed subsequent actions filed by Lu or imposed other sanctions against him for violating the 2002 Injunction Order. See, e.g., Lu v. Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., No. 02-11860, ECF No. 22 (D. Mass. Jan. 15, 2003) (imposing $500 sanction for Lu’s failure to comply with court orders and requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure); United States ex rel. Lu v. Gamboa-Ruiz, No. 18-10105, 2019 WL 608837, at *3 (D. Mass. Feb. 13, 2019) (dismissing complaint pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b) for failing to comply with 2002 Injunction Order), aff’d sub nom. United States v. Trustees of Tufts Coll., No. 19- 1381, 2019 WL 9524094 (1st Cir. Dec. 12, 2019); Lu v. Capitol Waste Servs., Inc., No. CV 19-11458-FDS, 2019 WL 8756875, at *2 (D. Mass. Sept. 19, 2019) (dismissing action with prejudice under Rule 41(b) as sanction for violating 2002 Injunction Order); Lu v. Carrasco, No. 20-10031, 2020 WL 5359950, at *3 (D. Mass. July 30, 2020) (dismissing case for failure to comply with 2002 Injunction Order); Lu v. Stanton, No. 20-10366, 2020 WL 5395503, at *4 (D. Mass. July 30, 2020) (same); Lu v. Davis, No. 19-11968, 2020 WL Lu has also filed two actions in the Northern District of Illinois, one in the District of Columbia, one in the Northern District of Texas, and this is Lu’s third lawsuit in this District. Although the allegations in Lu’s Amended Complaint are difficult to discern, the thrust is dissatisfaction with a litany of prior court cases and adverse rulings, which he attributes to far-

ranging conspiracies and judicial corruption. Lu’s specific allegations run the gamut from collusion among large telecommunications companies to minor nuisances in Massachusetts’ public spaces. The common thread among these allegations is that they are too vague, conclusory, and unintelligible to state any plausible claim. Moreover, the Court lacks jurisdiction to hear many of Plaintiff’s claims that are raised under Massachusetts state law. II. LEGAL STANDARD As Plaintiff is pro se, the Court construes the allegations in the Amended Complaint liberally. Vogt v. Wetzel, 8 F.4th 182, 185 (3d Cir. 2021) (citing Mala v. Crown Bay Marina, Inc., 704 F.3d 239, 244-45 (3d Cir. 2013)). The Court will “apply the relevant legal principle even when the complaint has failed to name it.” Id. However, ‘“pro se litigants still must allege sufficient facts in their complaints to support a claim.’” Vogt, 8 F.4th at 185 (quoting Mala, 704

F.3d at 245). An unrepresented litigant “cannot flout procedural rules—they must abide by the same rules that apply to all other litigants.” Id.

7408278, at *10 (D. Mass. Nov. 2, 2020) (recommending dismissal with prejudice for violating 2002 Injunction Order), report and recommendation adopted, 2020 WL 8026733 (D. Mass. Nov. 24, 2020); Lu v. Clarke, No. 20-12010, 2021 WL 783964, at *1 (D. Mass. Feb. 26, 2021) (dismissing action with prejudice for violating 2002 Injunction Order), aff’d, No. 21-1245, 2022 WL 905848 (1st Cir. Jan. 25, 2022); Lu v. Budd, 546 F. Supp. 3d 9, 11 (D. Mass. 2021) (dismissing action with prejudice sua sponte for continued violation of 2002 Injunction Order); Lu v. Laprocina, No. 21-11493-JDL, 2022 WL 21769764, at *5 (D. Mass. May 31, 2022) (“Because Lu has not complied with the 2002 Order in this case, dismissal of his complaint with prejudice is warranted.”); Lu v. Kastner, No. 23-10951, 2023 WL 4976548, at *1-2 (D. Mass. Aug. 3, 2023) (dismissing complaint with prejudice and imposing additional filing injunction), appeal dismissed, No. 23-1731, 2023 WL 10272314 (1st Cir. Oct. 11, 2023). The Court has the authority to dismiss claims sua sponte under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Bintliff-Ritchie v. Am. Reinsurance Co., 285 F. App’x 940, 943 (3d Cir. 2008) (citing Bryson v. Brand Insulations, Inc., 621 F.2d 556, 559 (3d Cir. 1980)).

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LU v. KERRY, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lu-v-kerry-paed-2025.