Saadat Nejad v. United States of America et al
Filing
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ORDER: (1) Granting Motion for Leave to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (ECF No. 2 );(2) Dismissing Action Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2); and(3) Terminating As Moot Ex Parte Applications (ECF Nos. 5 , 6 , 7 ). Signed by Judge Cynthia Bashant on 09/25/2024. (All non-registered users served via U.S. Mail Service)(mjw)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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SHAHROKH SAADAT NEJAD,
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ORDER:
Plaintiff,
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Case No. 24-cv-01519-BAS-KSC
(1) GRANTING MOTION FOR
LEAVE TO PROCEED IN
FORMA PAUPERIS
(ECF No. 2);
v.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
et al.,
Defendants.
(2) DISMISSING ACTION
UNDER 28 U.S.C.
§ 1915(e)(2); AND
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(3) TERMINATING AS MOOT
EX PARTE APPLICATIONS
(ECF Nos. 5, 6, 7)
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Plaintiff Shahrokh Saadat Nejad is proceeding pro se—without an attorney.
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He filed a complaint on August 27, 2024, against: (1) numerous state and federal
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entities, including the United States of America, the State of California, the Central
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Intelligence Agency, the Superior Court of California, the County of San Diego, and
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the City of Saratoga; (2) several corporations including Walmart and AT&T;
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(3) about a dozen named individuals; and (4) Does 1 through 50,000. (Compl. 1–2.)
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Plaintiff filed a Motion Seeking Leave to Proceed In Forma Pauperis
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(“IFP”)—without prepaying court fees or costs. (ECF No. 2.) A few weeks later,
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Plaintiff also filed three Ex Parte Applications. First, Plaintiff asks the Court to order
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the Department of Justice to investigate his Complaint’s allegations. (ECF No. 5.)
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Second, Plaintiff requests an order requiring the DOJ to document and preserve
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evidence mentioned in the Complaint. (ECF No. 6.) Third, Plaintiff seeks service of
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the Complaint by the U.S. Marshals. (ECF No. 7.)
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For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s Motion to Proceed
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IFP, DISMISSES WITH PREJUDICE his Complaint, and TERMINATES AS
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MOOT Plaintiff’s Ex Parte Applications.
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I.
MOTION FOR LEAVE TO PROCEED IFP
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Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915, a litigant who because of indigency is unable to pay
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the required fees or security to commence a legal action may petition the court to
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proceed without making such payment. The determination of indigency falls within
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the district court’s discretion. Cal. Men’s Colony v. Rowland, 939 F.2d 854, 858 (9th
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Cir. 1991) (holding that “Section 1915 typically requires the reviewing court to
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exercise its sound discretion in determining whether the affiant has satisfied the
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statute’s requirement of indigency”), rev’d on other grounds, 506 U.S. 194 (1993).
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It is well-settled that a party need not be completely destitute to proceed IFP. Adkins
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v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 335 U.S. 331, 339–40 (1948). To satisfy the
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requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a), “an affidavit [of poverty] is sufficient which
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states that one cannot because of his poverty pay or give security for costs . . . and
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still be able to provide himself and dependents with the necessities of life.” Id. at 339.
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At the same time, however, “the same even-handed care must be employed to assure
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that federal funds are not squandered to underwrite, at public expense . . . the
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remonstrances of a suitor who is financially able, in whole or in material part, to pull
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his own oar.” Temple v. Ellerthorpe, 586 F. Supp. 848, 850 (D.R.I. 1984).
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District courts, therefore, tend to reject IFP applications where the applicant
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can pay the filing fee with acceptable sacrifice to other expenses. See, e.g., Stehouwer
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v. Hennessey, 841 F. Supp. 316, 321 (N.D. Cal. 1994) (finding that the district court
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did not abuse its discretion in requiring a partial fee payment from a prisoner who
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had a $14.61 monthly salary and who received $110 per month from family), vacated
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in part on other grounds by Olivares v. Marshall, 59 F.3d 109 (9th Cir. 1995).
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Moreover, “in forma pauperis status may be acquired and lost during the course of
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litigation.” Wilson v. Dir. of Div. of Adult Insts., No. CIV S-06-0791, 2009 WL
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311150, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Feb. 9, 2009) (citing Stehouwer, 841 F. Supp. at 321); see
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also Allen v. Kelly, 1995 WL 396860, at *2 (N.D. Cal. June 29, 1995) (holding that
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a plaintiff who was initially permitted to proceed in forma pauperis should be
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required to pay his $120 filing fee out of a $900 settlement). Finally, the facts as to
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the affiant’s poverty must be stated “with some particularity, definiteness, and
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certainty.” United States v. McQuade, 647 F.2d 938, 940 (9th Cir. 1981).
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Having read and considered Plaintiff’s application, the Court finds that
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Plaintiff meets the requirements in 28 U.S.C. § 1915 for IFP status. Plaintiff is
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unemployed and relies on support from others to survive. (IFP Mot. ¶¶ 1–2.) He
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lists no employment history for the past two years and identifies only $300.00 in his
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financial accounts. (Id. ¶ 4.) His expenses approximate or exceed his minimal
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income. (Id. ¶ 8.) Under these circumstances, the Court finds that requiring Plaintiff
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to pay the court filing fee would impair his ability to obtain the necessities of life.
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See Adkins, 335 U.S. at 339.
In light of the foregoing, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to
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Proceed IFP (ECF No. 2).
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II.
SCREENING UNDER 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)
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Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i), the court must dismiss an action where
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the plaintiff is proceeding IFP if the court determines that the action “is frivolous or
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malicious.” An IFP complaint “is frivolous if it has ‘no arguable basis in fact or
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law.’” O’Loughlin v. Doe, 920 F.2d 614, 617 (9th Cir. 1990) (quoting Franklin v.
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Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 1228 (9th Cir. 1984)). This standard grants the court “the
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unusual power to pierce the veil of the complaint’s factual allegations and dismiss
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those claims whose factual contentions are clearly baseless.” Neitzke v. Williams,
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490 U.S. 319, 327 (1989). Consequently, “a court is not bound, as it usually is when
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making a determination based solely on the pleadings, to accept without question the
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truth of the plaintiff’s allegations.” Denton v. Hernandez, 504 U.S. 25, 32 (1992).
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Clearly baseless factual allegations include those “that are ‘fanciful,’
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‘fantastic,’ and ‘delusional.’” Denton, 504 U.S. at 32–33 (quoting Neitzke v.
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Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325, 327, 328 (1989)). Accordingly, “a finding of factual
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frivolousness is appropriate when the facts alleged rise to the level of the irrational
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or the wholly incredible, whether or not there are judicially noticeable facts available
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to contradict them.” Id. at 33. These outlandish claims are those “with which federal
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district judges are all too familiar.” Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 328. Thus, district courts
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have dismissed as frivolous an assortment of complaints containing clearly baseless
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factual allegations. See, e.g., Frost v. Vasan, No. 16-cv-05883 NC, 2017 WL
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2081094, at *1 (N.D. Cal. May 15, 2017) (secret conspiracy involving a U.S. Senator,
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a university, and the CIA); Suess v. Obama, No. CV 17-01184-JAK (DTB), 2017
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WL 1371289, at *2 (C.D. Cal. Mar. 10, 2017) (conspiracy involving former President
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Barack Obama, the CIA, and the FBI); Demos v. United States, 2010 WL 4007527,
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at *2 (D. Ore. Oct. 8, 2010) (kidnapping involving law enforcement officers
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disguised as pirates).
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Here, Plaintiff’s 164-page Complaint seeks redress against the CIA, state and
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local governments, several major corporations, and about a dozen individual
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defendants. Among other things, Plaintiff alleges the neighborhood surrounding his
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residence “is part of a secret U.S. government and/or a U.S. military program.”
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(Compl. ¶ 64.) Plaintiff has allegedly been subjected to various instances of nudity
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and indecent exposure in the vicinity. (Id.) His residence is also allegedly besieged
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by sound equipment that is “used to, but not limited to, harass, annoy, threaten,
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manipulate, intimidate, inflict sleep deprivation, and incite violence.” (Id. ¶ 73.) In
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Plaintiff’s view, “white noise has been weaponized,” and law enforcement has
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misused equipment “and/or gadgets to penetrate, but not limited to, Plaintiff’s smart
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devices, phones and/or Plaintiff’s laptop computers.” (Id. ¶ 79.)
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Having reviewed the allegations in Plaintiff’s Complaint and its attached
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exhibits, the Court concludes they are fantastical and clearly baseless. See Neitzke,
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490 U.S. at 325; see also 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i); DeRock v. Sprint-Nextel, 603
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F. App’x 556, 558 (9th Cir. 2015) (affirming dismissal of nine actions as either
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frivolous or failing to state a claim because the plaintiff alleged “unsupported legal
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conclusions and fanciful factual allegations”). In addition, because the Complaint is
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frivolous, the Court does not grant Plaintiff leave to amend. See Lopez v. Smith, 203
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F.3d 1122, 1127 n.8 (9th Cir. 2000) (“When a case may be classified as frivolous or
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malicious, there is, by definition, no merit to the underlying action and so no reason
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to grant leave to amend.”).
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III.
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CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s Motion to Proceed
Further, the Court DISMISSES WITH
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In Forma Pauperis (ECF No. 2).
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PREJUDICE Plaintiff’s Complaint as frivolous under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i).
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Finally, because the Court dismisses Plaintiff’s Complaint, the Court also
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TERMINATES AS MOOT Plaintiff’s three pending Ex Parte Applications (ECF
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Nos. 5, 6, 7). The Court of Court shall enter judgment and close this case.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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DATED: September 25, 2024
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