Chen v. Mount Sinai Beth Israel
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-00223
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
Chen v. Mount Sinai Beth Israel: Judge Swain dismissed Chen’s complaint as frivolous after screening his fee-free case and denied fee-free status for an appeal.
Victor Chen’s complaint was dismissed, and he was denied permission to appeal without paying fees in advance. The named defendants were not required to litigate the allegations in this action.
What happened
In Chen v. Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Victor Chen, who was representing himself, sued a hospital, New York State, the United States, three universities, and Queen Elizabeth II. He accused the defendants of libel, assault, abuse, slavery, and taking his thoughts and work, and sought release, property, and money.
The court found that the complaint had no reasonable basis in fact or law and dismissed it as frivolous under the statute governing screening of fee-free cases. Because the problems could not be fixed by rewriting the complaint, the court declined to let Chen amend it. The court also warned that more frivolous lawsuits could lead to limits on his ability to file future cases without paying fees in advance.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain dismissed the complaint and ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith, denying Chen fee-free status for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Chen v. Mount Sinai Beth Israel · No. 1:22-cv-00223
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 31, 2022
Background
Victor Chen, appearing without a lawyer, sued Mount Sinai Beth Israel, New York State, the United States, Harvard University, Yale University, Oxford University, and Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Chen did not identify a basis for federal jurisdiction. In a one-page complaint, he accused the defendants of libel; assault and abuse; slavery; taking his thoughts and original works; restricting his travel, telephone, and mail; and claiming that his works exposing the defendants’ wrongdoing were themselves wrongful. He sought release from confinement at Mount Sinai Beth Israel, removal of alleged foreign objects from his body and brain, return of property, compensation for his work, and compensation for what had been done to him and his family.
Court’s analysis
Because Chen had been allowed to proceed without paying the filing fee in advance, the court screened the complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). That statute requires dismissal of a complaint that is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim, or seeks money from an immune defendant. The court said it had to read a self-represented person’s complaint generously, but found that Chen’s allegations lacked an arguable basis in fact or law. It described the allegations that the defendants accused him of importing a virus, abused him, stole his thoughts and ideas, and used them as vaccines against artificial diseases as irrational. The court said it could identify no legal basis or legal theory allowing Chen to proceed.
Disposition
The court dismissed the complaint as frivolous under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i). It declined to give Chen permission to amend because it found that the defects could not be cured by amendment. The court also warned that, because of Chen’s history of filing frivolous actions, future frivolous filings could lead to an order requiring him to explain why he should not be barred from filing new actions without paying fees in advance unless he first received permission. Finally, the court certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.