Murray v. Donoud Trump Inc.

Background

Robert Lee Murray, also known as Leviticus Lucifer, brought this action without a lawyer while detained at the North Infirmary Command on Rikers Island. He invoked federal-question jurisdiction and alleged unspecified violations of his federal constitutional rights. He sought reparations for what he described as the legacy of slavery and discrimination in the United States, including “40 acres and a mule” and damages tied to the killing of former President Abraham Lincoln.

Murray sued “Donoud Trump, Inc.,” “Donaud Trump CEO,” unidentified “John Doe Corporations built of The Back of Slavery,” and unidentified “John Doe CEOs.” The court had previously allowed him to proceed without paying the filing fee in advance.

Screening and analysis

The court screened the complaint under the Prison Litigation Reform Act and the statutes governing complaints filed without prepayment of fees. Those provisions require dismissal of a complaint that is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim for relief, seeks relief from an immune defendant, or falls outside the court’s subject-matter jurisdiction. The court also explained that pleadings filed without a lawyer are read generously, but they still must provide enough factual matter to state a plausible claim.

The court focused on Section 1983, which permits a claim against a person acting under color of state law—that is, using authority or conduct attributable to state government—for violating a constitutional or federal right. Private parties generally are not liable under Section 1983 because the Constitution regulates government conduct, not private conduct.

The court found that every defendant named in Murray’s complaint was a private party. It therefore held that Murray had not stated a Section 1983 claim. Although courts generally allow a plaintiff without a lawyer to amend a defective complaint, the court concluded that amendment would be futile because the complaint’s defects could not be cured by amendment. It declined to grant leave to amend.

Disposition

The court dismissed Murray’s complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). It declined under 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c) to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over any state-law claims Murray might have been asserting. The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment.