Johnson-El v. Balgobin
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:19-cv-11255
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Johnson-El v. Balgobin, Judge McMahon remanded the traffic-ticket case to Mount Hope Town Court because federal jurisdiction was not established.
Jamari Tariq Johnson-El’s attempt to move the pending traffic-ticket case from Mount Hope Town Court to federal court; the case was returned to the town court.
What happened
In Johnson-El v. Balgobin, Jamari Tariq Johnson-El, who had no lawyer, tried to move a pending traffic-ticket case from Mount Hope Town Court to federal court. The ticket accused him of failing to keep right under New York traffic law. He also claimed that the ticket and proceedings violated several constitutional rights and a treaty.
The court ruled that Johnson-El could move the case only if the federal court had authority to hear it. The state-court materials showed a New York traffic-law violation, and the federal claims Johnson-El raised did not establish that authority under the governing rules for moving cases from state court.
Judge Colleen McMahon held that the removal was improper and remanded the action to Mount Hope Town Court under federal law. She directed the Clerk of Court to send the order to that court, close the federal case, and terminate all pending matters.
The detailed version
- Johnson-El v. Balgobin · No. 1:19-cv-11255
- Colleen McMahon
- Feb. 4, 2020
Background
Jamari Tariq Johnson-El, appearing without a lawyer, filed a notice seeking to move a pending Mount Hope Town Court case to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The state-court matter involved a traffic ticket issued by Officer Nigel Balgobin for allegedly failing to keep right in violation of New York Vehicle and Traffic Code § 1120A. Johnson-El also named Detective Danopoli as a defendant.
Johnson-El alleged that the ticket and town-court proceedings violated the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments, as well as the Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1786/1787 between Morocco and the United States. He also objected to the name printed on the ticket and alleged that Officer Balgobin falsified a statement, report, or ticket.
Legal standard
A defendant may move a state-court case to federal court only when the federal court has original jurisdiction, meaning authority to hear the case at its outset. The court explained that federal-question jurisdiction is determined from the state-court complaint itself, not from federal defenses or claims that a defendant may raise in response. The court may return a removed case to state court when removal is procedurally defective or when federal subject-matter jurisdiction is absent.
The opinion also noted that a state-court defendant who files a notice of removal should be listed as a defendant in the federal case. Johnson-El listed himself as the plaintiff, so the court referred to him as “Plaintiff” to avoid confusion.
Court’s analysis
The court concluded that Johnson-El had not established federal-question jurisdiction. The only state-court document attached to the notice was the traffic ticket, which identified a violation of New York traffic law. Johnson-El’s constitutional and treaty allegations did not change the state-law nature of the action or provide a proper basis for moving it to federal court under the governing removal rules.
Ruling
Judge Colleen McMahon held that the case could not be removed and remanded the action to Mount Hope Town Court under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c). The Clerk of Court was directed to send the order to the town court, close the federal action, and terminate all pending matters.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.