Kujak v. Minnesota, The State of

Background

Jonathan Jerry Roman Kujak filed this civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 without a lawyer against the State of Minnesota. The court considered a magistrate judge’s Report and Recommendation and Kujak’s motion to withdraw his complaint and all pending motions.

Recommendation and screening

Magistrate Judge Tony N. Leung recommended dismissal without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b), which requires screening of certain prisoner complaints. The recommendation stated that Kujak’s claims were wholly conclusory and that only persons—not the State of Minnesota—may be sued under § 1983. No party objected, so Judge Tostrud reviewed the recommendation for clear error and found none.

Voluntary dismissal

The court understood Kujak’s request to withdraw his complaint as a notice of voluntary dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(i). The court said that this rule permitted voluntary dismissal because the State had not served an answer or filed a motion for summary judgment. Kujak stated that filing the case had been an error and that the federal courts had no jurisdiction over the defendants he sought to sue.

Rulings

The court adopted the Report and Recommendation. It dismissed the action without prejudice under 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b) and Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i). It denied Kujak’s application to proceed without paying the filing fee. The court ordered him to pay the unpaid balance of the $350 statutory filing fee in the manner required by 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2), and directed the Clerk of Court to notify the authorities at the institution where he was confined. The court denied Kujak’s remaining motions as moot.

The opinion uses both “Jonathon” and “Jonathan” for the plaintiff’s first name; the caption and the operative order use “Jonathan Jerry Roman Kujak.”