Strickland v. County Council of Beaufort County

230 F. Supp. 3d 949, 2017 WL 72398, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2437
CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedJanuary 6, 2017
DocketCase No. 16-CV-1150 (JNE/LIB)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 230 F. Supp. 3d 949 (Strickland v. County Council of Beaufort County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Strickland v. County Council of Beaufort County, 230 F. Supp. 3d 949, 2017 WL 72398, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2437 (mnd 2017).

Opinion

ORDER

JOAN N. ERICKSEN, United States District Judge

This matter is before the Court on a Report and Recommendation (“R & R”) issued by the Honorable Leo I. Brisbois, United States Magistrate Judge, on October 28, 2016. (Docket No. 51.) The R&R issued in response to a motion to dismiss filed by Defendants County Council of Beaufort County, SC, Jerri Ann Roseneau, Betty Ann Strickland, Peggy Rivers, and Vanessa Bryan (the “South Carolina Defendants”). (Dkt. No. 26) Before responding to the Amended Complaint, Defendant United States Department of Defense Finance & Accounting Service, Garnishment Operations (“DFAS”) filed a motion for an extension of time to file an answer. (Dkt. No. 45.) The R&R recommends that the South Carolina Defendants’ motion to dismiss be granted. (See Dkt. No. 51.) Because of this, the R&R denied as moot DFAS’s motion for an extension. (See id.)

Plaintiff Charlie Strickland, Jr. (“Strickland”) objected to the R&R. (See Dkt. No. 54.) The Court therefore conducted a de novo review of the record. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1); Fed. Civ. P. 72(b)(3); D. Minn. LR 72.2(b)(3). Based on that review, the Court declines to accept the R & R’s recommended disposition and transfers the case to the District of South Carolina.

I. ROOKER-FELDMAN DOCTRINE

The R&R recommends granting the South Carolina Defendants’ motion to dismiss on the grounds that the Court lacks jurisdiction under the Rooker-Feld-man doctrine. (See Dkt. No. 51 at 6-10.) This doctrine states that federal district courts lack jurisdiction to consider “cases brought by state-court losers complaining of injuries caused by state-court judgments rendered before the district court proceedings commenced and inviting district court review and rejection of those judgments.” Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Indus. Corp., 544 U.S. 280, 284, 125 S.Ct. 1517, 161 L.Ed.2d 454 (2005). Rook-er-Feldman bars a suit that seeks relief from a state-court judgment itself, but not a suit seeking relief from conduct independent of the judgment. See Hageman v. Barton, 817 F.3d 611, 614-15 (8th Cir. 2016). After reviewing Strickland’s Amended Complaint and other briefs, the R&R concluded that Strickland’s “success in this Court depends on the Court reviewing and invalidating [state-court] orders, which, under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, it cannot do.” (Dkt. No. 51 at 9.) Strickland objected, stating that his claims do not question the state-court orders relevant to the facts of this case. (See Dkt. No. 54 at 5-6.)

Construing Strickland’s pleadings liberally and in an effort to discern a permissible claim, as the Court must do when reviewing pro so pleadings, see Solomon v. Betray, 795 F.3d 777, 787 (8th Cir. 2015), the Court agrees that Strickland’s claims do not seek relief from any state-court judgments. Strickland’s Amended Complaint revolves around his 1997 domestic relations case in Beaufort County Family Court, South Carolina. In 1997, a Family Court'judge issued a temporary order in the case, awarding both child support and temporary spousal support to Strickland’s [952]*952former wife, Betty Ann Strickland. (See Amend. Compl. ¶ 7, Dkt. No. 8; Dkt. No. 35-8 at 2-6.) Another order followed in 1998. (Amend. Compl. ¶ 7.) It too required Strickland to pay child support and temporary spousal support. (See Dkt. No. 14-1 at 15-17.) Then, in 2004, a Family Court judge issued an order dismissing the case because all of Strickland’s children were emancipated, and Strickland did not owe any arrearages. (See Amend. Compl. ¶ 9; Dkt. Nos. 19-1 at 12, 35-3 at 3.) Strickland does not complain of anything in these orders.

As provided by South Carolina law enabling enforcement of support orders, Family Court clerks issued Income Withholding Notices (“IWNs”) to DFAS. (See Amend. Compl. ¶ 10; Dkt. No. 19-1 at 9-10). DFAS then withheld funds from Strickland and forwarded the funds to the Family Court. (See Amend. Compl. ¶ 10.) Strickland does not complain of this process in general. His complaint is that the IWNs and constant withholding of his income did not stop in 2004, when the case was dismissed. Strickland claims that after the 2004 dismissal, Family Court clerks failed to notify DFAS that the case was closed, and withholding continued for several years. (See id. ¶ 10-11.) Then, in 2015, Rivers, a clerk for the Family Court, submitted an amended IWN to DFAS.1 (Id. ¶ 12; see also Dkt. No. 35-7 at 2-3.) The amended IWN requested withholding for child support related to the 1997 case. (See Amend. Compl. ¶ 14; Dkt. No. 35-7 at 2.) Because the 1997 case was dismissed in 2004, Strickland- believed the IWN was issued in error and inquired into the matter. (See Amend. Compl. ¶ 13.) In spring 2016, he received correspondence from the Family Court stating that the 1997 case was still “active” and that he was required to continue to pay $367.50 per month. (Id.; Dkt. No. 35-4 at 6.)

Strickland asserts that Roseneau, Rivers, and Bryan conspired to deprive him of property without due process, in a discriminatory way, and under color of law by issuing fraudulent and unauthorized IWNs to DFAS. (See Amend. Compl. ¶¶ 10, 16-19.) He claims Betty Ann Strickland also conspired with these Defendants. (See id. ¶¶ 10, 16.) Relatedly, he asserts that DFAS discriminated against him and violated his due process rights by failing to use reasonable care to investigate the IWNs before withholding funds. (Id. ¶¶ 15-17.) Finally, he claims that the County Council of Beaufort County discriminated against him and was grossly negligent when it failed to notify DFAS of the 2004 dismissal. (Id. ¶¶ 11, 16-17.) These claims do not assert harm caused by orders issued by Family Court judges, but instead harm resulting from IWNs issued without the authority of a judge-signed Family Court order. (See Dkt. No. 54 at 3, 6, 7.)

The R & R, in concluding that Rooker-Feldman applies to this case, appears to have assumed that IWNs are equivalent to state-court orders, which cannot be overturned by a federal court. See Minch Family LLLP v. Buffalo-Red River Watershed Dist., 628 F.3d 960, 965 (8th Cir. 2010) (analyzing Rooker-Feldman in the context of state-court orders); Riehm v. Engelking, 538 F.3d 952, 964-65 (8th Cir. 2008) (same). In his objection, Strickland argues that IWNs and judge-signed orders are not equivalent: “Plaintiff always said that the action by the defendants took place after the case was dismissed. The plaintiff believes that the [IWN] and an Order from a Judge(s) are [953]*953not the same.” (Dkt. No. 54 at 8.) One of Strickland’s requests for relief also impliedly makes this point: “Order [DFAS] not to honor any request for withholding funds (IWO) received from Beaufort County Family Court, without an attached signed Order from a family Court Judge for a period [of] ten (10) years.” (Amend. Compl. at 10.)

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
230 F. Supp. 3d 949, 2017 WL 72398, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2437, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/strickland-v-county-council-of-beaufort-county-mnd-2017.