Gilberti v. George W. Bush

Background

Joseph D. Gilberti filed the action while he was held in the Sarasota County Jail and appeared without a lawyer. He sued former President George W. Bush and numerous governmental entities and officials, including the “Council of National Defense,” the National Resources Defense Council, the Army Corps of Engineers, Congress, several federal departments, the National Guard, and others.

Gilberti described his requested relief as an order compelling the defendants to act, including by testing two alleged “primary water” resources in New Jersey for use in New York and Sarasota, Florida. In his complaint and later submissions, which the court treated as additions to the complaint, he alleged a broad criminal conspiracy involving judges, government officials, and others concerning the discovery and concealment of “primary water” and its alleged properties. The court also understood some submissions as possibly seeking release from confinement and intervention in, or a stay of, ongoing Florida criminal proceedings.

The court had previously allowed Gilberti to proceed without paying filing fees in advance. Because he was a prisoner seeking relief against governmental defendants, the court screened the complaint under the Prison Litigation Reform Act.

Court’s analysis

The court dismissed any claims seeking the federal criminal prosecution of the defendants or anyone else. It held that decisions to bring criminal charges belong to prosecutors and that Gilberti lacked legal standing to require such a prosecution. The court therefore dismissed those claims for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, meaning the federal court lacked authority to decide them.

The court treated Gilberti’s possible requests for release as requests for relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. It held that the Southern District of New York lacked jurisdiction over challenges to his confinement in the Sarasota County Jail, which is in Florida. The court dismissed those claims for lack of jurisdiction, without prejudice to Gilberti’s bringing them in the federal district with jurisdiction over that confinement.

The court separately held that all of Gilberti’s claims were frivolous. It described the allegations as mainly incoherent and fantastical and found no factual basis or legal theory supporting a claim. The court also concluded that the defects could not be cured by amendment and denied leave to amend.

Disposition

The court dismissed the action. It denied the pending motion identified as ECF 15 as moot, meaning the motion no longer required a decision because of the dismissal. Judge Louis L. Stanton directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment dismissing the action and ordered copies of the order and judgment mailed to Gilberti at the listed addresses.

The court warned Gilberti that further vexatious, frivolous, or otherwise nonmeritorious litigation could lead to an order requiring him to explain why he should not be barred from filing future civil actions without the court’s permission to proceed without paying filing fees. The court did not decide whether he was already subject to a separate statutory filing restriction for prisoner cases.