(PS) Davis v. California Department of Child Support Services
Filing
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FINDINGS and RECOMMENDATIONS signed by Magistrate Judge Allison Claire on 08/25/2020 RECOMMENDING that this case be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and that the pending motion (ECF No 5 ) be denied as moot. Referred to Judge Troy L. Nunley. Objections due within 21 days after being served with these Findings and Recommendations. (Tupolo, A)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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LEON DAVIS, JR.,
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No. 2:20-cv-01393 TLN AC PS
Plaintiff,
v.
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF
CHILD SERVICES,
Defendant.
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Plaintiff is proceeding in this action pro se. This proceeding was referred to the
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undersigned by Local Rule 302(c)(21). Plaintiff has paid the filing fee and filed a certificate of
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service. ECF No. 4. On August 20, 2020, plaintiff moved for a cease and desist order of child
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support. ECF No. 5. Upon review of the complaint, the undersigned concludes that the court
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lacks subject matter jurisdiction to hear this case and recommends that it be dismissed. The
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motion at ECF No. 5 should be denied as moot.
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I. The Complaint
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Plaintiff is suing the California Department of Child Support Services, asserting federal
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question jurisdiction under “29 CFR 1614(a) and (a)(1)” and the Fair Debt Collection Practices
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Act. ECF No. 1 at 2-4. Plaintiff seeks five million dollars in damages for the violation of his
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civil rights, discrimination, and unlawful actions in violation of federal law, a grant of full
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custody of his child, prosecution of the child’s mother for perjury, and a return of child support
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payments made in the amount of $15,000. Id. at 5-6. Plaintiff alleges that DCSS discriminates
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against African American males and does not follow the laws for fathers to get equal treatment.
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Id. at 5.
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Substantively, plaintiff alleges he has had fifty percent custody of his child since 2015, but
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in 2018 the child’s mother committed perjury and stated that he was with his child less than the
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agreed amount of time. Id. at 7. After a significant delay, and without considering plaintiff’s
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paperwork, the court ordered back child support payments and “stole money from the sale of my
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condo in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practice Act.” Id. at 8. Plaintiff alleges that
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“DCSS violated federal law; Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, when it administered a false
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order of child support and stated I owed eleven thousand in back child support putting a lien on
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the sale of my condo and never informed me of my debt, then garnishing my wages to continue
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this illegal order.” Id.
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II. Analysis
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1. Sua Sponte Dismissal for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction
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Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction; a federal court generally has jurisdiction
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over a civil action when: (1) a federal question is presented in an action “arising under the
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Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States” or (2) there is complete diversity of
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citizenship between the parties and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. See 28 U.S.C. §§
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1331, 1332(a). Absence of subject matter jurisdiction requires a federal court to dismiss a case.
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See Ruhrgas AG v. Marathon Oil Co., 526 U.S. 574, 583 (1999) (recognizing that “Article III
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generally requires a federal court to satisfy itself of its jurisdiction over the subject matter before
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it considers the merits of a case”). Thus, “a court may raise the question of subject matter
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jurisdiction, sua sponte, at any time during the pendency of the action.” Snell v. Cleveland, Inc.,
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316 F.3d 822, 826 (9th Cir. 2002). The “presence or absence of federal-question jurisdiction is
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governed by the ‘well-pleaded complaint rule,’ which provides that federal jurisdiction exists
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only when a federal question is presented on the face of the plaintiff’s properly pleaded
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complaint.” Caterpillar Inc. v. Williams, 482 U.S. 386, 392 (1987).
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2. This Case is Barred by the Rooker-Feldman Doctrine
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Although plaintiff’s complaint is cast in terms of federal law violations, it is clear from the
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content of the complaint and the remedies sought (specifically, return of child support payments
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made, full custody of his child, and production of his child’s mother) that he is essentially
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contesting the state court judgment regarding his child support and custody obligations. This
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amounts to a de facto appeal of the state court judgment. See Cooper v. Ramos, 704 F.3d 772,
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777–78 (9th Cir. 2012) (“To determine whether an action functions as a de facto appeal, we pay
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close attention to the relief sought by the federal-court plaintiff.”). The court does not have
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jurisdiction to hear such a case.
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The Rooker-Feldman doctrine prohibits federal district courts from hearing cases “brought
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by state-court losers complaining of injuries caused by state-court judgments rendered before the
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district court proceedings commenced and inviting district court review and rejection of those
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judgments.” Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Indus. Corp., 544 U.S. 280, 284 (2005). To
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determine if the Rooker-Feldman doctrine bars a case a court must first determine if the federal
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action contains a forbidden de facto appeal of a state court judicial decision. Noel v. Hall, 341
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F.3d 1148, 1156 (9th Cir. 2003). If it does not, “the Rooker-Feldman inquiry ends.” Bell v. City
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of Boise, 709 F.3d 890, 897 (9th Cir. 2013). If a court determines that the action is a “forbidden
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de facto appeal,” however, the court cannot hear the de facto appeal portion of the case and, [a]s
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part of that refusal, it must also refuse to decide any issue raised in the suit that is ‘inextricably
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intertwined’ with an issue resolved by the state court in its judicial decision.” Noel, 341 F.3d at
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1158; see also Bell, 709 F.3d at 897 (“The ‘inextricably intertwined’ language from Feldman is
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not a test to determine whether a claim is a de facto appeal, but is rather a second and distinct step
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in the Rooker-Feldman analysis.”). A complaint is a “de facto appeal” of a state court decision
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where the plaintiff “complains of a legal wrong allegedly committed by the state court, and seeks
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relief from the judgment of that court.” Noel, 341 F.3d at 1163.
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In seeking a remedy by which this court invalidates a state court decision and amends the
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state court record, plaintiff is clearly asking this court to “review the final determinations of a
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state court in judicial proceedings,” which is at the core of Rooker-Feldman’s prohibition. In re
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Gruntz, 202 F.3d 1074, 1079 (9th Cir. 2000). Requests to vacate a family court order and child
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support debt are generally considered de facto appeals. Riley v. Knowles, No. 1:16-CV-0057-
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JLT, 2016 WL 259336, at *3 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 21, 2016). Indeed, requests to the federal courts to
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reverse the outcomes of family law issues, such as divorce proceedings or child custody
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determinations, are generally treated as de facto appeals barred by Rooker-Feldman. See Moore
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v. County of Butte, 547 Fed. Appx. 826, 829 (9th Cir. 2013). Accordingly, plaintiff’s action
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constitutes a “forbidden de facto appeal” and the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to hear the
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case.
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3. There is No Federal Question Jurisdiction
Even if the Rooker-Feldman doctrine did not deprive this court of subject matter
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jurisdiction, the court would be required to find that subject matter jurisdiction does not exist.
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This is because the allegations of the complaint do not plausibly identify any violation of a
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federal law. Plaintiff predicates his claims on two federal laws, neither of which support a cause
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of action.
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As to plaintiff’s first reference to federal law, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act,
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federal courts have repeatedly rejected application of this statute to the collection of child support
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payments. See Mabe v. G.C. Servs. Ltd. P’ship, 32 F.3d 86 (4th Cir. 1994), Battye v. Child
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Support Servs., Inc., 873 F. Supp. 103, 105 (N.D. Ill. 1994), Adymy v. Erie County Child Support
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Enf’t Unit, No. 03-CV-0955E(SC), 2006 WL 1174322, at *3 (W.D.N.Y. May 2, 2006). Child
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support payments “do not qualify as ‘debts’ under the FDCPA because they were not incurred to
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receive consumer goods or services. Rather, the [state agency responsible for collecting child
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support] imposed these obligations upon appellants to force them to fulfill their parental duty to
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support their children.” Mabe, 32 F.3d at 88. Because plaintiff’s FDCPA claim is based solely
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on his child support obligations and the FDCPA therefore does not apply, this statute cannot
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provide the basis for federal question jurisdiction.
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Plaintiff’s second reference to federal law, 29 CFR § 1614, likewise fails to support
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federal question jurisdiction. This regulation, promulgated under the Labor Code, is entitled
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“Federal Sector Equal Employment Opportunity.” Neither the regulation nor the Labor Code
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have any potential relationship to the child custody and child support issues that give rise to
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plaintiff’s complaint. Because this provision of federal law does not relate the facts presented in
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the complaint, it does not support federal question jurisdiction. Again, the undersigned finds this
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court has no jurisdiction to hear this case.
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III. Conclusion
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Accordingly, the undersigned recommends that this case be DISMISSED for lack of
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subject matter jurisdiction, and that the pending motion (ECF No.5) be DENIED as moot.
These findings and recommendations are submitted to the United States District Judge
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assigned to the case, pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). Within twenty-one days
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after being served with these findings and recommendations, plaintiff may file written objections
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with the court and serve a copy on all parties. Id.; see also Local Rule 304(b). Such a document
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should be captioned “Objections to Magistrate Judge’s Findings and Recommendations.” Failure
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to file objections within the specified time may waive the right to appeal the District Court’s
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order. Turner v. Duncan, 158 F.3d 449, 455 (9th Cir. 1998), as amended on denial of reh’g (Nov.
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24, 1998); Martinez v. Ylst, 951 F.2d 1153, 1156–57 (9th Cir. 1991)
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DATED: August 25, 2020
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