Tyler Miller v. State of Washington

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Decided: September 17, 2020
• Docket: 19-35542
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS SEP 17 2020 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

TYLER G. MILLER, No. 19-35542

Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 3:19-cv-05308-RJB

v. MEMORANDUM* STATE OF WASHINGTON,

Defendant-Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington Robert J. Bryan, District Judge, Presiding

Submitted September 8, 2020**

Before: TASHIMA, SILVERMAN, and OWENS, Circuit Judges.

Tyler G. Miller appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment dismissing

his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging that Wash. Rev. Code § 29A.56.300 et seq.,

which provides an alternative process for allocating Washington’s electoral votes

for president and vice-president, is unconstitutional. We have jurisdiction under 28

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo a dismissal on the bases of standing and

ripeness. Desert Water Agency v. U.S. Dep’t of the Interior, 849 F.3d 1250, 1253

(9th Cir. 2017). We affirm.

The district court properly dismissed Miller’s action for lack of subject

matter jurisdiction because Miller failed to establish that he suffered an injury in

fact as required for Article III standing, and his claims are not yet ripe. See Lujan

v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560-61 (1992) (elements of Article III

standing); Clapper v. Amnesty Int’l USA, 568 U.S. 398, 409 (2013) (“[W]e have

repeatedly reiterated that threatened injury must be certainly impending to

constitute injury in fact, and that [a]llegations of possible future injury are not

sufficient.” (citation omitted)); see also Texas v. United States, 523 U.S. 296

(1998) (“A claim is not ripe for adjudication if it rests upon contingent future

events that may not occur as anticipated, or indeed may not occur at all.” (citation

and internal quotation marks omitted)).

The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Miller leave to

amend his complaint because any amendment would have been futile. See

Cervantes v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., 656 F.3d 1034, 1041 (9th Cir. 2011)

(setting forth standard of review and stating that leave to amend may be denied

where amendment would be futile).

AFFIRMED.

2 19-35542