Golatt v. Foremost Home Improvement Inc et al

Filing 5

ORDER that this Court lacks jurisdiction, therefore, this action is remanded to the Circuit Court of Pulaski County, Arkansas. Signed by Chief Judge J. Leon Holmes on 12/12/11. (vjt)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
WESTERN DIVISION
OLETHA GOLATT
v.

PLAINTIFF
NO. 4:11CV00875 JLH

FOREMOST HOME IMPROVEMENT, INC., et al.

DEFENDANTS

ORDER
Oletha Golatt commenced this action in the Circuit Court of Pulaski County. He now has
filed a notice of removal of the captioned matter from the Circuit Court of Pulaski County. Golatt
has attached to the notice of removal some or all of the pleadings and orders from the Circuit Court
of Pulaski County. One of the attachments is an order dated May 26, 2011, dismissing the action
without prejudice.
This action must be remanded for four reasons. First, because the state court action has been
dismissed, there is no case for Golatt to remove. Second, the complaint alleges causes of action that
arise under state law rather than federal law and that all of the parties are citizens of the State of
Arkansas, so this Court has neither diversity of citizenship nor federal question jurisdiction. See 28
U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1332. Third, Golatt was the plaintiff and therefore cannot remove this action
to federal court because the removal statutes provide for defendants, not plaintiffs, to remove actions
to federal court. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1441(a) and 1446(a); Guttman v. Silverberg, 374 F. Supp. 2d 991,
993 (D.N.M. 2005). Fourth, federal district courts may not exercise appellate review of state court
judgments, which is what Golatt is asking this Court to do. See Skit Intern., Ltd. v. DAC
Technologies of Arkansas, Inc., 487 F.3d 1154, 1156-57 (8th Cir. 2007).
This Court lacks jurisdiction. Therefore, this action is remanded to the Circuit Court of
Pulaski County, Arkansas.

IT IS SO ORDERED this 12th day of December, 2011.

J. LEON HOLMES
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE