Shanley v. Smith et al

Filing 22

ORDER DISMISSING CASE in accordance with 28 U.S.C. section 1915(e)(2)(B). The Clerk shall enter judgment and close the case. Signed by Judge Victor A. Bolden on 12/22/2015. (Shin, D.)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT
WILLIAM BRANDON SHANLEY,
Plaintiff,
v.
GORDON H. SMITH, et al.
Defendants.

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Case No. 3:15-cv-00579 (VAB)

RULING OF DISMISSAL
Plaintiff, William Brandon Shanley, proceeding pro se, brings this action against various
defendants, alleging that the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to invent and disseminate false
news accounts about a fictional December 14, 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut,
as an act of terrorism. He seeks $5,003,000,000,000 in damages. Mr. Shanley moved for leave
to proceed in forma pauperis, which was granted on July 17, 2015. See Doc. No. 9.
“The same statute that authorizes the Court to grant in forma pauperis status to a plaintiff
also contains a provision that protects against abuses of this privilege.” Fuentes v. Conway, No.
3:09-mc-97, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32763, at *3, 2009 WL 1043905, at *1 (D. Conn. Mar. 27,
2009). Subsection (e) provides that “the court shall dismiss the case at any time if the court
determines that . . . the action . . . (i) is frivolous or malicious; (ii) fails to state a claim upon
which relief may be granted; or (iii) seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune
from such relief.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). “The term ‘frivolous’ is not intended to be
insulting or demeaning; it is a term of art that has a precise meaning. A claim is said to be
frivolous if it does not have an arguable basis in law or fact.” Whitnum v. Emons, No. 3:15-cv959, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111509, at *2, 2015 WL 5010623, at *1 (D. Conn. Aug. 24, 2015)
(citing Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989)).

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In reviewing a pro se complaint, the Court must construe it liberally, and interpret it “to
raise the strongest arguments it suggests.” Abbas v. Dixon, 480 F.3d 636, 639 (2d Cir. 2007).
Even so, the complaint must still “include sufficient facts to afford the defendants fair notice of
the claims and the grounds upon which they are based and to demonstrate a right to relief."
Shabazz v. Valentine, No. 3:14-cv-1711, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 167220, at *1-2, 2014 WL
6850773, at *1 (D. Conn. Dec. 3, 2014); see also Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555-56
(2007) (plaintiff must plead “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face”).
A claim has the requisite “facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows
the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct
alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). Conclusory allegations are not sufficient;
a pleading that only “tenders naked assertions devoid of further factual enhancement” will not
suffice. Id.
In addition, section 1915(e)(2) “accords judges not only the authority to dismiss a claim
based on an indisputably meritless legal theory, but also the unusual power to pierce the veil of
the complaint’s factual allegations and dismiss those claims whose factual contentions are clearly
baseless.” Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 327; see Denton v. Hernandez, 504 U.S. 25, 32-33 (1992)
(holding that a finding of factual frivolousness is appropriate when the facts alleged rise to the
level of the irrational or the wholly incredible, whether or not there are judicially noticeable facts
available to contradict them”) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted); see also id. at 33
(recognizing that “ district courts, who are all too familiar with factually frivolous claims, are in
the best position to determine which cases fall into this category”) (internal quotation marks and
citation omitted).

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Plaintiff’s complaint alleges that, on December 14, 2012, the United States government
staged a “lone gunman drill” at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and
that the numerous defendants “entered in a multi-year conspiracy” to “brainwash the public into
thinking” that this exercise was a real school shooting during which an individual had killed over
two dozen individuals before committing suicide. See Compl., at 4-5. The complaint also
appears to allege that Plaintiff’s encounters with the criminal justice system are the result of his
investigations into this alleged conspiracy, rather than due to criminal conduct on his part. See
Compl., at 7-8. The named defendants are members of the media and government officials.
The key allegations underlying all of Plaintiff’s purported claims in the complaint are that
the Newtown school shooting that occurred in December 2012 never actually happened, and that
a vast conspiracy involving virtually every major news source in the state and the nation has
effectively perpetrated this hoax upon the world at large. This Court finds that these claims do
“not have an arguable basis in law or fact.” Furthermore, this defect in the complaint cannot be
cured by amendment, and thus leave to amend shall not be permitted. See Foman v. Davis, 371
U.S. 178, 182 (1962); Collins v. Cheney, No. 07-cv-0725S, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89596, at *6,
2007 WL 4300025, at *2 (W.D.N.Y. Dec. 3, 2007) (leave to amend “may be denied where
amendment would be futile”).
Therefore, the Court DISMISSES WITH PREJUDICE this action pursuant to 28
U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i). The Clerk of the Court is directed to close this case.
SO ORDERED at Bridgeport, Connecticut, this 22nd day of December, 2015.

/s/ Victor A. Bolden
Victor A. Bolden
United States District Judge

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