Price v. McFarland

133 F. App'x 485
Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit·Decided May 25, 2005·No. No. 04-3372·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

ORDER AND JUDGMENT*

BOBBY R. BALDOCK, Circuit Judge.

After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unani[487] mously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R.App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.

Plaintiffs-appellants Rosemary Denise Price and David Martin Price appeal from the order and the related judgment entered by the district court dismissing their complaint under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1), 12(b)(6), and 12(c). Our jurisdiction arises under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Because we have determined that this appeal is frivolous, we deny plaintiffs’ application to proceed in forma pauperis, and we dismiss this appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(I).

As summarized by the district court,

Plaintiffs ... are proceeding pro se. Generally, their 110-page complaint asserts that they have spoken out regarding numerous matters of public interest in Topeka, Kansas including law enforcement issues, misappropriation of funds, the bonding out of persons charged with crimes in Shawnee County, and the election of judges. They further assert that defendants have retaliated against them and others associated with them because of their protected speech. This retaliation has allegedly occurred in the prosecution of a traffic charge ... against plaintiff David Price, an adoption case involving a baby fathered by David Price, a petition for the termination of parental rights of David Price, and in other actions involving persons associated with plaintiffs. The complaint also asserts that certain defendants failed to investigate plaintiffs’ claims of illegal and unethical conduct.
Plaintiffs list a multitude of federal statutes in their complaint: 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983, 1985(2), 1985(3), 1986 and 1988; 18 U.S.C. §§ 1512-1515, 1961-1968; 28 U.S.C. § 1343; 31 U.S.C. § 3730; and the Indian Child Welfare Act. Plaintiffs also list a number of constitutional provisions, Kansas statutory sections, canons of judicial conduct, state court rules and uniform statutes.

R., Vol. I, Doc. 105 at 2-3 (footnote omitted).

In a very thorough and well-reasoned thirty-eight page order, the district court dismissed all of plaintiffs’ claims based on twenty separate rulings. Specifically, the court concluded that:

1. Plaintiffs’ motion to recuse “all Kansas, Missouri and Tenth Circuit judges, justices and magistrates ... from this case” was without merit. Doc. 105 at 5.
2. Plaintiffs’ claims for injunctive relief relating to the state-court child custody and adoption cases and other state court cases were jurisdictionally barred by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine.1 Doc. 105 at 8-9.
3. The allegations in plaintiffs’ complaint were insufficient to state a claim under the qui tarn provisions of the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b). Doc. 105 at 10.
4. “Plaintiffs cannot bring a civil action to recover upon the alleged violation of criminal statutes or initiate criminal enforcement actions as a private citizen.” Id.
5. The allegations in plaintiffs’ complaint were insufficient to state a claim under the Racketeering Influenced and [488] Corrupt Organizations Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-68. Doc. 105 at 11-13.

6. The allegations in plaintiffs’ complaint were insufficient to state claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981,1985, or 1986. Doc. 105 at 13-14.

7. “Plaintiffs have no cause of action directly under the United States Constitution against state and local officials.” Id. at 15.
8. The allegations in plaintiffs’ complaint were insufficient to state a claim for injunctive relief with regard to alleged future harms. Id. at 16.
9. Plaintiffs’ claims against the named state prosecutors were either barred by the doctrine of prosecutorial immunity, id. at 18-19, 27, or failed to state a claim because “[t]here is no constitutional or statutory right to have an investigation undertaken by a government official or agency,” and “[ejven if there was such a right, defendants ... would be entitled to qualified immunity from liability,” id. at 19-20.
10. Plaintiffs’ claims against the named state court judges were either barred by the doctrine of judicial immunity, id. at 20-23, or failed to state a claim because “there is no right to have an investigation performed or, if there was, the defendant judges were entitled to qualified immunity,” id. at 23.
11. “[Plaintiffs do not have standing to object to a disciplinary complaint made against their [former] attorney.” Id. at 24.
12. “Plaintiffs allege no facts in their complaint which state a claim that they were denied meaningful access to the courts by reason of any action by the defendant judges.” Id.
13. The allegations in plaintiffs’ complaint were insufficient to state a claim against the named state-court clerks. Id. at 25-27.
14. “[A]ny alleged violation of state open meetings or open records laws does not state a claim for the violation of federal law.” Id. at 27.
15. Plaintiffs failed to state a claim for malicious prosecution against defendant Patterson. Id. at 27-28.

16. The allegations in plaintiffs’ complaint were insufficient to state claims against the named private attorneys. Id. at 28-31.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Price v. McFarland, 133 F. App'x 485 (10th Cir. 2005).

133 F. App'x 485 (Price v. McFarland) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related