Weiss v. Sawyer

28 F. Supp. 2d 1221, 80 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6816, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15060, 1997 WL 1049674
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Oklahoma
DecidedSeptember 19, 1997
DocketCIV-96-2034-R
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 28 F. Supp. 2d 1221 (Weiss v. Sawyer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Weiss v. Sawyer, 28 F. Supp. 2d 1221, 80 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6816, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15060, 1997 WL 1049674 (W.D. Okla. 1997).

Opinion

ORDER

DAVID L. RUSSELL, District Judge.

The individually named federal Defendants, K.J. Sawyer, Paul B. Nichols, Jr., Harold Wolaver, Bobby Gammel, Gary L. Collins, Brenda Faulkner and Wayne Watts, move the Court for an order dismissing the Plaintiffs complaint against them or, alternatively, for an order substituting the United States as the only proper federal defendant.

The Court construes the pro se Plaintiffs pleadings liberally, applying a less stringent standard than is applicable to pleadings filed by lawyers. Gagan v. Norton, 35 F.3d 1473, 1474 n. 1 (10th Cir.1994), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1183, 115 S.Ct. 1175, 130 L.Ed.2d 1128 (1995); Whitney v. State of New Mexico, 113 F.3d 1170 (10th Cir.1997). The Court will not, however, supply additional factual allegations to round out a plaintiffs complaint or construct a legal theory on a plaintiffs behalf. A court should not assume the role of advocate for a pro se litigant. Hall v. Bellmon, 935 F.2d 1106, 1110 n. 3 (10th Cir.1991); Northington v. Jackson, 973 F.2d 1518, 1520 (10th Cir.1992).

I. The Complaint

The Complaint alleges that the Plaintiff was tried and convicted in an Oklahoma state court, and incarcerated for a period of about 60 days. The Plaintiffs rambling, lengthy Complaint asserts some 29 causes of action against the federal defendants named above and two private persons. The Complaint cites Title 18 U.S.C. §§ 241, 242, 875(d), 876, 1001, 1341-1343 and 1581; Title 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1985(3) and 1986; Title 5 U.S.C. §§ 552 and 552a; and the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The Plaintiff also asserts claims under various other unsupported legal theories, such as the “Mississippi Burning Doctrine.”

The essence of the Plaintiffs various causes of action is her claim that her federal tax assessments were “fraudulent,” and that the subsequent levies against her property by certain defendants were also “fraudulent.” (Complaint, pp. 10-11). The Plaintiff also complains that some of the federal defendants did not provide her with documents she claims to have requested under the federal Privacy Act and Freedom of Information Act. The Plaintiff also accuses the Defendants of “encoding, or encryption of classifi *1225 cation of people,” and alleges some scheme to “withhold and conceal documents, or parts of documents.” (Complaint, p. 7).

The Complaint claims that the Defendants wrongfully disclosed information about her to the Social Security Administration and the Oklahoma Tax Commission, and that they submitted to the Oklahoma Tax Commission “falsified documents.” The Plaintiff claims that she was incarcerated for about 60 days as a result of these actions. (Complaint, pp. 10 -11).

The Plaintiff seeks an injunction requiring the Defendants to “cease and desist, with prejudice, all actions initiated, in progress, and all prior actions” arising from the allegedly falsified or incomplete documents. She asks that documents be “stricken from [her] record” pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 7(b)(2) and 11(a); and Title 26 U.S.C. § 6065. The Plaintiff seeks a release of “all liens, levies and seizures, with prejudice;” and “restitution and return of personal property” in the amount of approximately $35,000.00. This amount represents the money the Plaintiff alleges is due to her as consideration for her house which was “converted by defendants.” The Plaintiff next seeks what she terms a “nominal amount” of damages, specifically, $10,000.00 per day from each Defendant for each day of her incarceration. Finally, the Plaintiff seeks compensatory and punitive damages. (Complaint, pp. 33-34).

II. Sovereign Immunity— Official Capacity

The moving Defendants first contend that the Plaintiffs claims are, in effect, claims against the United States. The movants argue that all of them, as federal employees and officials, are sued in their official capacities. Although the style of the Complaint names each of the movants individually, the moving Defendants interpret it as complaining of actions performed by them in their capacities as “officers, employees or agents of the Internal Revenue Service.” (Complaint, p. 2).

A suit against federal officials in their official capacities is, in effect, a suit against the United States. To the extent the Complaint could thus be interpreted as raising claims against the United States, this Court has no subject matter jurisdiction absent a waiver of the United States’ sovereign immunity. United States v. Dalm, 494 U.S. 596, 110 S.Ct. 1361, 1368, 108 L.Ed.2d 548 (1990). Under settled principles of sovereign immunity, “the United States, as sovereign, ‘is immune from suit, save as it consents to be sued ... and the terms of its consent to be sued in any court define that court’s jurisdiction to entertain the suit.’ ” Dalm, supra, quoting United States v. Testan, 424 U.S. 392, 399, 96 S.Ct. 948, 953, 47 L.Ed.2d 114 (1976); United States v. Sherwood, 312 U.S. 584, 586, 61 S.Ct. 767, 769, 85 L.Ed. 1058 (1941). It is irrelevant that plaintiff has named individual federal employees as defendants if “the judgment sought would expend itself on the public treasury or domain.” Dugan v. Rank, 372 U.S. 609, 620, 83 S.Ct. 999, 1006, 10 L.Ed.2d 15 (1963) (citation omitted). “When an action is one against named individual defendants, but the acts complained of consist of actions taken by defendants in their official capacity as agents of the United States, the action is in fact one against the United States.” Atkinson v. O’Neill, 867 F.2d 589, 590 (10th Cir.1989).

Although the factual allegations are vague, they all relate to the business of assessment and collection of federal taxes. The Complaint vaguely suggests that the Defendants were acting outside the scope of their employment, but does not plead facts sufficient to support such an allegation. 1

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Bluebook (online)
28 F. Supp. 2d 1221, 80 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 6816, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15060, 1997 WL 1049674, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/weiss-v-sawyer-okwd-1997.