Case Information
*1 Before: AMBRO, GREENAWAY, JR. and SCIRICA, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: November 17, 2016)
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OPINION [*]
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PER CURIAM
Pro se appellants Thomas and Eileen Bolick pursued numerous state and federal claims in the District Court, eventually settling on a second amended complaint that raised thirty counts. That complaint cited numerous and disparate alleged factual predicates for relief, including the demolition of property that the Bolicks owned, a dispute arising out of their use of a Discover credit card, defamation by news publications, misconduct of a state-court judge, torts by municipal officials and employees, and a wide-ranging conspiracy and racketeering enterprise. Six groups of defendants filed separate motions to dismiss the second amended complaint.
After the parties briefed those motions, the Magistrate Judge recommended that
the District Court dismiss the complaint on two independent bases. First, the Magistrate
Judge concluded that the second amended complaint did not comply with Federal Rules
of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) and 8(d)(1). Report and Recommendation, D. Ct. Doc. No.
117 at 8. In particular, the Magistrate Judge stated that the Bolicks failed to “simply,
concisely, and directly allege what their claims are, which facts support those claims, and
which Defendants the claims are asserted against, leaving the Defendants to parse
through the 95-page complaint and 29 pages of attached exhibits and ‘guess what of the
many things discussed constituted [a specific cause of action against them].’” Id. at 9
(quoting Binsack v. Lackawanna Cty. Prison,
Thereafter, the Bolicks timely moved for reconsideration of the District Court’s dismissal order. The District Court denied the motion for reconsideration on the ground that the Bolicks sought only to re-litigate the dismissal ruling, and had not put forth any new evidence or shown that any manifest error of law or fact had occurred.
This appeal followed. On appeal, certain of the defendants moved for summary affirmance pursuant to Third Circuit Local Appellate Rule 27.4 and Third Circuit Internal Operating Procedure 10.6. The Bolicks then filed a response opposing affirmance and in support of their appeal.
We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We exercise plenary review
over a District Court’s decision to grant a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, Fleisher v.
Standard Ins. Co.,
we may affirm the District Court’s judgment on any basis supported by the record, see Murray v. Bledsoe,
The Bolicks’ claims here were prolix and vague; they were not “‘simple, concise,
and direct.’” See Westinghouse Sec. Litig.,
We will not affirm, however, solely on the basis of the Bolicks’ failure to comply with the requirements of Rule 8. Rather, we also consider the Magistrate Judge’s attempt to discern what claims the Bolicks intended to plead and we evaluate whether those claims were subject to dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) for the failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Based on our review of the second amended complaint, there is no substantial question that the District Court did not err when it granted the defendants’ motions to dismiss the second amended complaint, substantially for the reasons set out in the Magistrate Judge’s report and recommendation.
As an initial point, the Bolicks have sued both a number of private individuals and
entities and also numerous government officials and state entities. As pleaded, the
Bolicks’ complaint fails categorically to state a claim against several of these parties.
*6
The Bolicks, who pursued relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, were required to plead that the
private individuals’ and entities’ conduct amounted to state action, but they failed to do
so. See Mark v. Borough of Hatboro,
2005). Relatedly, for claims brought against municipal entities, the Bolicks were
required to plead that a municipal policy, custom, or practice led to the purported
constitutional violations at issue, but they failed to plead facts sufficient to identify any
such policy, custom, or practice. See Connick v. Thompson,
An additional problem dooms many of the claims brought against various parties
in this case: the Bolicks have attempted to re-litigate matters that have already been
decided in previous cases. As the Magistrate Judge explained, to the extent that the
Bolicks have sued in federal court to complain of injuries brought about by prior state
court judgments, the District Court had no jurisdiction to hear challenges to those
judgments. See Great W. Mining & Mineral Co. v. Fox Rothschild LLP,
To the extent that the above-discussed categorical deficiencies arguably might not
apply, we will comment briefly on the viability of certain of the Bolicks’ claims as
additional grounds for affirmance. First, to the extent that the Bolicks could have raised
claims concerning the demolition of their property against a proper defendant in federal
court, those claims still fail. We agree with the Magistrate Judge that the Bolicks’ claims
related to that demolition are unripe to the extent that they raise constitutional violations
under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment. See Cowell v. Palmer Twp.,
Second, to the extent that the Bolicks have argued that any person or entity took
action against them in retaliation for the exercise of their First Amendment rights, that
argument fails. The Bolicks have not pleaded facts to sufficiently allege that any of their
actions were causally connected to the adverse actions that they allegedly endured after
exercising their right to free speech. See Rauser v. Horn,
Third, the Bolicks’ antitrust claims fail. As the Magistrate Judge explained, 15
U.S.C. § 35(a) bars the antitrust claims as pleaded here against the municipal entities. As
for the antitrust claims against the law firm Ballard Spahr, their representation of their
client Discover Card did not, as pleaded in the Bolicks’ complaint, amount to the kind of
“sham litigation” that the antitrust laws can reach. See Prof’l Real Estate Inv’rs, Inc. v.
Columbia Pictures Indus., Inc.,
Fourth, the Bolicks’ attempts to use the federal statutes barring civil conspiracies
and racketeering to maintain their case in federal court all fail. Both the allegations of a
wide-ranging conspiracy and also the allegations of a pattern of racketeering activity
among the defendants are wholly conclusory. No specific fact is alleged that could
establish a conspiracy or a racketeering enterprise. See Iqbal,
Consequently, we grant the motion to summarily affirm and will affirm the District Court’s judgment.
Notes
[*] This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent.
