Sutherland v. Securities and Exchange Commission

Background

Colin Paul Sutherland, appearing without a lawyer, brought this action under the court’s federal-question jurisdiction. He alleged that the defendants violated the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. The opinion identifies the defendants as the Securities and Exchange Commission, Citadel Securities LLC, Virtu Financial Inc., Jane Street Group LLC, Susquehanna International Group LLP, Invesco Ltd., and John Does 1-100 Market Makers.

Reason for dismissal

The court stated that Sutherland had previously submitted the identical complaint in a pending case, No. 25-CV-9233. It explained that a plaintiff generally may not maintain multiple actions involving the same subject matter at the same time in the same court against the same defendant. Because this complaint raised the same claims as the pending case, the court determined that litigating the duplicate lawsuit would serve no useful purpose.

Ruling

The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice as duplicative of No. 25-CV-9233. The dismissal was therefore based on the duplicate nature of the lawsuit, not on a decision about whether the securities allegations were legally or factually correct. The court directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment dismissing the case.

The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees. This denial applied for purposes of an appeal.