Lucy Clark v. Michael Rosenthal and Kevin McClanahan

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin dismissed with prejudice a pro se complaint alleging that the defendants conspired and violated due process. The court found the complaint deficient, duplicative, and malicious, denied pending motions, certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith, and directed the clerk to return similar future filings by the plaintiff unfiled.

Holdings

1. The complaint failed to state a claim because it consisted only of naked assertions without factual enhancement connecting the defendants' alleged conduct to a legally cognizable violation.
2. The action was properly dismissed with prejudice as duplicative and malicious because it appeared to have been filed to harass defendants and waste judicial resources, and the plaintiff had filed materially identical actions in other federal courts.
3. The court declined to grant leave to amend because the action was duplicative and malicious and the circumstances indicated abusive litigation rather than a curable pleading deficiency.
4. The court could direct the clerk to return unfiled any similar new civil action filed by Lucy Clark pursuant to the procedure governing restrictions on abusive filings.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the complaint stated a plausible claim for relief under the applicable pleading standard.
2. Whether the court should dismiss the action with prejudice as duplicative and malicious rather than grant leave to amend.
3. Whether the court could restrict future filings by directing the clerk to return similar actions filed by the plaintiff.

Disposition

dismissed