McPherson v. Rockford Public Schools

Filing 6

ORDER-WRITTEN Opinion entered by the Honorable Philip G. Reinhard on 2/2/2017: For the reasons stated below, this case is dismissed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Plainti ff's motion for attorney representation 4 is denied and her application to proceed in forma pauperis 3 is denied as moot. [see STATEMENT-OPINION] Civil case terminated. Signed by the Honorable Philip G. Reinhard on 2/2/2017. Mailed notice (kms)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
WESTERN DIVISION
Mallissa McPherson,
Plaintiff,
vs.
Rockford Public Schools,
Defendant.

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Case No. 16 C 50375

Judge Philip G. Reinhard

ORDER
For the reasons stated below, this case is dismissed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §
1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Plaintiff’s motion
for attorney representation [4] is denied and her application to proceed in forma pauperis [3] is
denied as moot.
STATEMENT-OPINION
Plaintiff, Mallissa McPherson, pro se, brings this action against defendant, the Rockford
Public Schools. Plaintiff has filed an application to proceed in forma pauperis [3] and a motion
for attorney representation [4].
Plaintiff used a fill in the blank complaint form1, which she obtained from the collection
of forms available to litigants in this court’s clerk’s office, to submit her complaint. The form
she chose to use is the form designated for use by prisoners to submit their civil rights claims.
Plaintiff is not a prisoner so her decision to use this form was not particularly helpful. In the
caption of the complaint she lists her name as Mallissa McPherson. In the section of the body of
the form provided for identifying the plaintiff , she lists her name as Kateri Walker David. On
the line designated: “List all aliases” she lists Mallissa McPherson. On the complaint’s signature
line, she wrote “Kateri Walker David” and on the line supplied for printing her name she wrote
“Princess Diana.” Because plaintiff chose to use the form designed for prisoners, the form
required a list of all lawsuits filed by the plaintiff in any state or federal court. Plaintiff filled in
this portion of the complaint listing a prior suit against the same defendant, with an approximate
date of filing of “10-2010". She indicated it was filed in the “17th District” and that the basic

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http://www.ilnd.uscourts.gov/_assets/_documents/_forms/_online/1983EDForm092007.pdf
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claim made was “conspiracy to commit murder”, that the disposition of the case was “pending”
and the approximate date of disposition was “10-2010".
In the portion of the complaint provided for the statement of her claim, plaintiff wrote
only the following: “I asked politely for the school district to stop harassing my children. That is
what I meant. I asked the teacher to stop harassing my children & family that is what the fuck I
meant.”
These allegations are insufficient to state a claim as they are too vague for the defendant
to figure out how to respond to them. Nothing indicates what the harassing conduct was, when it
occurred, or who did the harassing. Plaintiff fails to state a claim upon which relief can be
granted and, therefore, this case is dismissed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii).
Plaintiff’s motion for appointment of counsel is denied. “If a plaintiff makes a
reasonable attempt to secure counsel, the court must examine whether the difficulty of the case factually or legally - exceeds the particular plaintiff’s capacity as a layperson to coherently
present it.” Childress v. Walker, 787 F.3d 433, 443 (7th Cir. 2015) (quotation marks and citation
omitted). Plaintiff has not met the threshold burden. Her motion indicates she did not contact
any attorneys about representing her. Her reason given for being unable to find an attorney is “I
am representing myself.”
Plaintiff has filed numerous actions in this court or which have been removed to this
court. Case No. 16cv50369, which is also being dismissed by the court today, lists 21
defendants and 20 additional plaintiffs, other than plaintiff. All of the other cases plaintiff had in
this court have been dismissed. Those cases are 14cv50186, 16cv3256, 14cv50093, 16cv50010,
11cv50138, and 11cv50149. The court views this case as frivolous and plaintiff is warned that
future filings of this type may result in sanctions against the plaintiff.
For the foregoing reasons, this case is dismissed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §
1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Plaintiff’s motion
for attorney representation [4] is denied and her application to proceed in forma pauperis [3] is
denied as moot.
Date: 2/02/2017

ENTER:

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United States District Court Judge

Notices mailed by Judicial Staff. (LC)

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