Wallace v. County of Franklin County

Opinion

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FILED

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

AUG 2 6 2010 C|erk, U.S. District a d ) Bankruptcy Courtsn Marcus Wallace, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v, ) Civil Action No. , ) 10 1452 County of Franklin County, ) ) Defendant. ) ) MEMORANDUM OPINION

This matter is before the Court on plaintiff’ s pro se complaint and application to proceed in forma pauperis. The Court will grant plaintiff s application and dismiss the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

The subject matter jurisdiction of the federal district courts is limited and is set forth generally at 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1332. Under those statutes, federal jurisdiction is available only when a "federal question" is presented or the parties are of diverse citizenship and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. A party seeking relief in the district court must at least plead facts that bring the suit within the court's jurisdiction. See Fed. R. Civ. P. S(a). Failure to plead such facts warrants dismissal of the action. See Fed. R. Civ. P. l2(h)(3).

Plaintiff, an inmate at the Franklin County Jail in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, sues Franklin County for what appears be property records. The complaint neither presents a federal

question nor provides a basis for diversity jurisdiction because the parties are not of diverse

citizenship and plaintiff has not pleaded an amount in controversy. A separate Order of dismissal

accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.

P~@) M~

Unifed Stat\e/s District Judge Date: August /7 , 2010