Simpson v. Brown Deer Police Department

Filing 4

ORDER DISMISSING CASE signed by Judge Rudolph T. Randa on 6/17/2014. 2 MOTION for Leave to Proceed in forma pauperis GRANTED. Complaint DISMISSED for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. (cc: all counsel, via US mail to Sean Simpson)(cb)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
SEAN SIMPSON,
Plaintiff,
-vs-

Case No. 14-C-649

BROWN DEER POLICE DEPARTMENT,
Defendant.

DECISION AND ORDER

Sean Simpson alleges that Brown Deer police officers unlawfully restrained his
freedom of movement by giving him an oral “no-contact” notice with respect to a
woman he is trying to befriend.

As an initial matter, the Brown Deer Police

Department is not a suable entity. Driebel v. City of Milwaukee, 298 F.3d 622 (7th
Cir. 2002). Moreover, the right to intrastate travel (to the extent it exists) “does not
allow one to travel anywhere and everywhere within Wisconsin at his or her pleasure.”
Hannemann v. So. Door Cnty. Sch. Dist., 673 F.3d 746, 756 (7th Cir. 2012)
(explaining that the Seventh Circuit has “not yet decided whether there is a federal
fundamental right to intrastate travel”); Williams v. Town of Greenburgh, 535 F.3d 71,
75 (2d Cir. 2008) (right to intrastate travel “protects movement between places and has
no bearing on access to a particular place”) (emphasis added).

Nor is there a

fundamental, constitutional right to contact persons outside of the familial context. Cf.
Graham v. City of N.Y., 869 F. Supp. 2d 337, 349 (E.D.N.Y. 2012) (“Government

actions that restrict a parent’s contact with his child implicate fundamental rights”).
Even after liberally construing Simpson’s pro se complaint, the Court is unable
to discern any actionable claims for relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2). The Court is
skeptical that Simpson is truly unable to pay the filing fee for this action, but it will
grant the motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis in light of Simpson’s claim
that he is saving money for tuition at the Milwaukee Area Technical College, such that
Simpson is not stuck with paying the fee for this frivolous lawsuit. § 1915(a)(1).
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT Simpson’s motion for leave to proceed
IFP [ECF No. 2] is GRANTED, but this matter is DISMISSED. The Clerk of Court
is directed to enter judgment accordingly.
Dated at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this 17th day of June, 2014.
BY THE COURT:

__________________________
HON. RUDOLPH T. RANDA
U.S. District Judge

-2-