Matthews v. United States

72 Fed. Cl. 274, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 220, 2006 WL 2130510
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJuly 27, 2006
DocketNo. 06-300 C
StatusPublished
Cited by258 cases

This text of 72 Fed. Cl. 274 (Matthews 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
Matthews v. United States, 72 Fed. Cl. 274, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 220, 2006 WL 2130510 (uscfc 2006).

Opinion

OPINION

HEWITT, Judge.

Pro se plaintiff Felton L. Matthews, Jr. is an inmate in the Nevada Department of Corrections in Ely, Nevada. Plaintiff has made an application to proceed in forma pauperis against the United States, the Department of Justice, various judges and clerks of court and others, named and unnamed.1 Complaint (Compl.) at 1. Plaintiff alleges that the United States and other named and unnamed defendants have delayed the sending of plaintiffs outgoing mail, thus blocking plaintiffs access to justice;2 have obstructed the receipt of plaintiffs incoming mail; have libeled plaintiff by placing and refusing to correct false information about him in prison files; and have failed to protect plaintiff against this alleged conduct despite the relief plaintiff has requested in previous civil suits. See generally id. at 2-8. It appears that plaintiff also alleges that the federal courts in Nevada abused their discretion in finding that Section 1915(g) of Title 28 of the United States Code applied to plaintiff to prevent him from proceeding in forma pauperis and by faffing to consider the merits of plaintiffs’ claims. See Compl. at 2. Plaintiff alleges that the United States and the other named and unnamed defendants have conspired to keep plaintiff in prison “to protect themselves from public scandal and prosecution.” Id. at 7.

Plaintiff asserts that this court has jurisdiction under Sections 1961 and 1962 of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968 [276]*276(2000);3 18 U.S.C. § 1701 (2000) (covering obstruction of mail); the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2671-2680 (2000); the Libel Protection Act; 42 U.S.C. § 1988 (2000); and the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651 (2000) (covering the granting of writs by courts “in aid of their respective jurisdictions and agreeable to the usages and principles of law”). Plaintiff further alleges that he is in imminent danger of serious bodily harm. Compl. at 2; see id at 7-8. Plaintiff requests monetary damages in the amounts of: “unspecified [money] damages above [$] 10,000 for not protecting me under 18 U.S.C.A. & 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983”; “[$]300,-000[] punitive for the conduct of the postmasters, NDOC mail clerks, and the Federal court in ... Reno”; and “damages [of $]10,-500[] for pain and suffering, specific, plus punitive.” Id at 9. Plaintiff also requests the following equitable relief: a court-ordered investigation into the delay of plaintiff’s mail; indictments of those responsible; an injunction against further delay or blocking of plaintiffs mail; removal of “slander” of plaintiff from defendant’s files; and “all equitable relief available to include Habeas Corpus.” Id at 8-9.

On June 5, 2006, plaintiff filed his Supplemental Complaint w/Request for counsel and Investigator (Am. Compl. or Amended Complaint), in which plaintiff describes his mail-tampering allegation in greater detail, states that the court “cannot” dismiss the complaint for lack of jurisdiction, and requests counsel and an investigator to assist him in substantiating the allegations of mail tampering. Plaintiff does not claim that he has the right to assistance of counsel or an investigator and does not provide authority for either proposition. It is settled that plaintiff does not have the right to assistance of counsel in this civil matter, see U.S. Const, amend. VI; Lariscey v. United States, 861 F.2d 1267, 1270-71 (Fed.Cir.1988) (stating that “a right to appointed counsel exists only when the indigent may lose his/her personal freedom if the action is lost” and that, “[b]eyond this narrow framework, the Supreme Court has not recognized a constitutional right to appointed counsel in civil matters” and declining to recognize a right to counsel under the circumstances of the case) (citing Lassiter v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 452 U.S. 18, 26-27, 101 S.Ct. 2153, 68 L.Ed.2d 640 (1981)). The court declines to appoint counsel or an investigator to assist plaintiff.

On July 12, 2006, plaintiff filed his Motion for Summary Judgement & repeal of the Prisoner Litigation Reform Act (or in Alternative Reconsideration)4 (Pl.’s Mot. or plaintiffs motion). Plaintiff filed his Affidavit of uncontroverted Facts in Support of Motion for Summary Judgement Filed [Pursuant to] Rule 56(H) (Statement of Facts) by leave of court on July 24, 2006. In addition to reiterating many of his claims, plaintiff states that a district attorney, a court reporter, and a court clerk intentionally altered the record in plaintiffs habeas corpus proceeding and presented the altered record to the court. Pl.’s Mot. at 1. In his motion, plaintiff also states that the court “refuse[s] to rule” on plaintiffs petition for habeas corpus, id. at 2, complains of delay in court proceedings, id. at 3, requests that “[t]he Prisoner Litigation [277]*277Reform Act ... be repealed and modified under the ‘Freak Case’ rule,” id. at 4,5 and states that plaintiff “is entitled to summary Judgement” based on “the U.S. government's] ... duty to protect him from the conduct in this motion,” id. Plaintiff reiterates his request for injunctive relief, habeas corpus, and monetary damages “both actual and punitive” and requests for the first time “a percentage of what the government recovers under 18 U.S.C.A. and 42 U.S.C. § 1983.”6 Id,

The court first considers plaintiffs application to proceed in forma pauperis. The court then considers whether the court has jurisdiction to entertain plaintiffs claims. Because the court determines that it lacks jurisdiction over plaintiffs’ claims for the reasons stated below, the court DENIES plaintiffs motion for summary judgment, DENIES plaintiffs motion to repeal the Prison Litigation Reform Act, and DISMISSES plaintiffs claims.

I. Application to Proceed in Forma Pauper-is

Plaintiff has applied to proceed in forma pauperis pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915. Section 1915(a) of Title 28 provides that “any court of the United States” may authorize the waiver of the filing fee pursuant to an application to proceed in forma pauperis. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a).

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Bluebook (online)
72 Fed. Cl. 274, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 220, 2006 WL 2130510, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matthews-v-united-states-uscfc-2006.