Demos v. U.S. Secretary Of Defense

Filing 3

MEMORANDUM OPINION Signed by Judge Karon O Bowdre on 1/23/13. (SAC )

FILED
2013 Jan-23 AM 11:38
U.S. DISTRICT COURT
N.D. OF ALABAMA

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
SOUTHERN DIVISION
JOHN ROBERT DEMOS,
Petitioner,
v.

UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF
DEFENSE,
Respondent.

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CIVIL ACTION NO.
2:13-cv-0036-KOB-JEO

MEMORANDUM OPINION
The petitioner, John Robert Demos, pro se, filed this habeas corpus action pursuant to 28
U.S.C. § 2241. The petitioner currently is confined at the Clallam Bay Corrections Center, a
state prison in Clallam Bay, Washington. (Doc. 1). For the reasons stated below, the action is
due to be dismissed without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction.
Demos is a long standing and well-known recreational filer of frivolous legal actions.
See, e.g., Demos v. Storrie, 507 U.S. 290 (1993); In re Demos, 500 U.S. 15 (1991); Demos v.
United States District Court for the Eastern Dist. of Wash., 925 F.2d 1160 (9th Cir. 1991). The
instant action is another such example of abuse. Here, Demos alleges that he is in custody
pursuant to one or more judgments or orders of “a top secret U.S. military court at Bremerton,
Washington.” (Doc. 1 ¶ 2). Demos further alleges that
[t]he U.S. Secretary of Defense, the President of the United States, the Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ordered [his] detention until [he] agree[s] to do the
following:

Reveal the Blueprints and Dynamics of Extra-Terrestrial U.F.O. Spacecraft
Reveal the Plot behind Extra-Terrestrial Abductions of Humans, Cattle, and Gold
[and] Reveal whether U.F.O.’s are Russian Spacecraft or German Spacecraft.
(Id. ¶ 9). Demos asserts that he “cannot be punished for his refusal to reveal [such] secrets”
because he “could be subjected to the crime of treason . . . .” (Id. ¶ 10).
Demos’s allegations are absurd on their face. However, even if the claims in his habeas
petition were colorable, this court would lack jurisdiction to hear them. A habeas petition
brought pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441 that challenges present physical custody must be filed in
the district of confinement. Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 442-43 (2004). Because Demos
states that he is being held at a state correctional facility in Washington, the Northern District of
Alabama is not the district of confinement. Accordingly, this court lacks jurisdiction over his
custodian, and the case is due to be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. The court will
enter a separate final order.
DONE and ORDERED this 23rd day of January, 2013.

____________________________________
KARON OWEN BOWDRE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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