The People of the State of New York v. Deem

Background

Michael A. Deem, appearing without a lawyer, filed a notice seeking to remove his pending state criminal prosecution to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The state case arose from his June 25, 2021 arrest by White Plains Police Department officers for trespassing at the White Plains Hospital Emergency Room. The opinion states that he had repeatedly been asked to leave because he refused to comply with the hospital’s policy requiring visitors to wear face masks. He was released on his own recognizance and later arraigned on the trespassing charges.

Legal standard

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1455, a defendant seeking to remove a state criminal prosecution must file a notice explaining the grounds for removal and provide copies of relevant state-court materials. If the notice shows that removal is impermissible, the federal district court must promptly send the case back to state court.

The court explained that state criminal prosecutions generally may be removed in two situations: when the prosecution is against a federal officer or armed-forces member for actions taken in an official capacity, or when the defendant shows that the state courts have denied, or cannot enforce, a federal right concerned with racial equality. The state-court defendant bears the burden of establishing federal jurisdiction, and doubts are resolved against removal.

Court’s analysis

Deem did not allege that he was a federal officer or armed-forces member being prosecuted for official actions. The court therefore concluded that removal was not proper under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1442 or 1442a.

The court also held that Deem had not met the requirements for removal under 28 U.S.C. § 1443(1). Deem alleged that compulsory face coverings were associated with race-based slavery or indentured servitude and that the state court’s mask requirement lacked a factual or scientific basis. The court treated these allegations as possibly asserting that wearing a mask in the state criminal proceedings would violate his rights through race-based discrimination. But Deem did not allege facts about his own race or facts suggesting that the New York court’s mask requirement was anything other than a general health-and-safety rule applied without regard to race.

The court also considered Deem’s allegations that New York judges belonged to secret societies, cabals, and criminal rings, as well as his allegations concerning the Freemasons, the “New World Order,” and the “Luciferian Initiation.” It found that the allegations concerning the assignment of his criminal case were legally frivolous and did not provide a basis for federal removal.

Disposition

The court held that Deem had not shown that removal was proper and remanded the action to state court under 28 U.S.C. § 1455(b)(4). The Clerk of Court was directed to send the order to White Plains City Court. The federal action was closed, all pending motions were terminated, and the order was mailed to Deem.

Classification note

This is a procedural order because the court resolved whether the state criminal prosecution could be removed to federal court; it did not decide whether Deem was guilty of trespassing or otherwise resolve the underlying criminal charges.