Bussie v. Yellen
- Charles Breyer
- 3:21-cv-03800
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Bussie v. Yellen, Judge Breyer dismissed the complaint without prejudice, granted permission to proceed without fees, and closed the case.
Anthony Bussie’s complaint was dismissed without prejudice; the order also granted his request to proceed without paying filing fees and closed the case.
What happened
In Bussie v. Yellen, Anthony Bussie, a self-represented civil detainee, sued Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. He objected to payments made to some prisoners and Social Security recipients, and asked the court to require payments to him and similarly situated people.
The court said Bussie could not sue these federal officials under the civil-rights law he invoked because they were acting under federal, not state, authority. The court noted that a different type of constitutional claim might be possible, but said this district was not the proper venue because no party lived there and the relevant events did not occur there.
Judge Breyer dismissed the action without prejudice to pursuing that possible claim in the proper venue. He granted Bussie permission to proceed without paying filing fees based on his poverty affidavit and directed the clerk to close the case and terminate pending motions as moot.
The detailed version
- Bussie v. Yellen · No. 3:21-cv-03800
- Charles Breyer
- June 9, 2021
Background
Anthony Bussie, who described himself as a civil detainee housed at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, filed a self-represented complaint against Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. He sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the federal civil-rights statute that generally applies when a person acting under state authority violates federal rights.
Bussie challenged the payment of money to convicted prisoners who filed tax returns and to Social Security recipients who did not file tax returns, rather than to him, a civil detainee who did not file a tax return. He asked the court to order Yellen to begin making payments to him and other similarly situated people. He also asked to proceed without paying filing fees.
Court’s analysis
Because Bussie sought to proceed without paying filing fees, the court applied 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2). That statute requires dismissal of an action brought without filing fees if it is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim, or seeks monetary relief from an immune defendant.
The court held that Bussie did not state a § 1983 claim against Yellen or Mnuchin. A § 1983 claim requires an alleged violation of a federal right by a person acting under state authority. The court said Yellen and Mnuchin were acting under federal authority when they made payments to people other than Bussie.
The court stated that Bussie might possibly be able to bring a constitutional claim under Bivens v. Six Unknown Federal Narcotics Agents, a legal theory allowing certain claims against federal officials. But the court did not decide whether such a claim would succeed. It held that this district was not the proper venue because none of the parties resided there and no substantial part of the relevant events or omissions occurred there.
Ruling
The court dismissed the action without prejudice to Bussie pursuing a Bivens action in the proper venue. The court separately granted his request to proceed without paying filing fees based solely on his affidavit of poverty. The clerk was instructed to close the file and terminate all pending motions as moot.
Judge Charles R. Breyer signed the order on June 9, 2021.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.