Case Information
*1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION T HOMAS K EVIN M OORE ,
Plаintiff, Hon. Jane M. Beckering v. Case No. 1:24-CV-641 V INCENT C. W ESTRA ,
Defendant.
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REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION Plaintiff initiated this action June 20, 2024, against the Honorable Vincent C.
Westra. 1 (ECF No. 1). Because Plaintiff has been permitted to proceed as a pauper (ECF No. 6), the Court has reviewed Plaintiff’s complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) to determine whether it is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B), the undersigned recommends that Plaintiff’s complaint be dismissed.
ANALYSIS
A claim must be dismissed for failure to state a claim on which relief may be
granted unless the “[f]actual allegations [are] enough to raise a right for relief above the
speculative level on the assumption that all of the complaint s allegations are true.”
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly ,
held, to avoid dismissаl, a complaint must contain “sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal 662, 677-78 (2009). This plausibility standard “is not akin to a ‘probability requirement,’ but it asks for more than а sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” If the complaint simply pleads facts that are “merely consistent with” a defendant’s liability, it “stops short оf the line between possibility and plausibility of ‘entitlement to relief.’” Id. As the Court further observed:
Two working principles underlie our decision in Twombly . First, the tenet that a сourt must accept as true all of the allegations contained in a сomplaint is inapplicable to legal conclusions. Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mеre conclusory statements, do not suffice. . .Rule 8 marks a notable and genеrous departure from the hyper-technical, code-pleading regime of a prior era, but it does not unlock the doors of discovery for a plaintiff armed with nothing more than conclusions. Second, only a complaint thаt states a plausible claim for relief survives a motion to dismiss. . .Determining whether а complaint states a plausible claim for relief will, as the Court of Appeals observed, be a context-specific task that requires the reviеwing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense. But where the well pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged – but it has not “show[n]” – “that the pleader is entitled to relief.”
Id. at 678-79 (internal citations omitted).
The gravamen of Plaintiff’s complaint is thаt in the course of presiding over a criminal prosecution of Plaintiff in 2006, Judge Westra made rulings and decisions that allegedly violated Plaintiff’s rights. Plaintiff’s complaint must bе dismissed for multiple reasons.
First, to the extent Plaintiff seeks to impose civil liability against Judge Westra,
such claims must be dismissed because Judge Westra enjoys absolute judicial immunity.
See, e.g., Lawrence v. Pelton ,
CONCLUSION For the reasons discussed herein, the undersigned recommends that Plaintiff’s complaint be dismissed for failurе to state a claim on which relief may be granted. For the same reasons the undersigned makes this recommendation, the undersigned finds that an appeal of such would be frivolous. Coppedge v. United States 438, 445 (1962). Accordingly, the undersigned further recommends that an appeal of this matter by Plaintiff would not be in good fаith.
OBJECTIONS to this Report and Recommendation must be filed with the Clerk
of Court within fourteen dаys of the date of service of this notice. 28 U.S.C.
§ 636(b)(1)(C). Failure to file objections within the specified time waives the right to
appeal the District Court’s order. See Thomas v. Arn , 474 U.S. 140 (1985); United
States v. Walters ,
Respectfully submitted, Date: July 3, 2024 /s/ Phillip J. Green PHILLIP J. GREEN United States Magistrate