State of Georgia v. Jeffrey Allen Hill

Summary

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia summarily remands Jeffrey Allen Hill’s second attempted removal of two Georgia state criminal actions under 28 U.S.C. § 1443(1). The court finds the notice procedurally defective and untimely under 28 U.S.C. § 1455, and concludes that Hill failed to establish a basis for federal removal jurisdiction or show that his federal civil rights could not be enforced in state court.

Holdings

1. A second notice of removal may be filed only on grounds that did not exist when the original notice was filed, absent good cause, and Hill failed to establish good cause for his untimely second removal.
2. The second notice of removal was procedurally defective because it did not contain a short and plain statement of the grounds for removal and did not include copies of the state-court process, pleadings, and orders.
3. Hill did not establish either required element for removal under § 1443(1): denial of a federal right stated in terms of racial equality and inability to enforce that right in the state courts.
4. Sovereign-citizen and asserted individual or tribal-sovereignty theories do not provide a lawful basis for removal or immunity from state criminal prosecution.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Hill's second notice of removal was timely and satisfied the procedural requirements of 28 U.S.C. §§ 1455(b)(2), 1455(b)(1), and 1455(a).
2. Whether Hill established a basis for removal of his state criminal proceedings under 28 U.S.C. § 1443(1).
3. Whether Hill showed that he could not enforce the asserted federal civil rights in the Georgia state courts.

Disposition

remanded