Jonathan VanLoan v. Nation of Islam, et al.
SocialSecurity DueProcess JusticiabilityDoctri
Is the legal standard for dismissal of a plaintiff's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 case, for factual allegations deemed 'fantastical' by the court, the 'clearly baseless' standard of Neitzke and Denton?
QUESTIONS PRESENTED The district judge dismissed Petitioner’s case, claiming that his factual allegations are “fantastical”, and his case “frivolous”, for the purposes of subject matter jurisdiction. The court bf appeals affirmed. The problem is, Petitioner’s factual allegations are true, and his case alleges some of the most serious violations of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in recent history— multiple government officials, diding the Nation of Islam, in its attempts to murder a Christian White man, for private protected speech, the Nation of Islam ; found offensive. | Two different Circuit courts of appeals, the Third and Ninth, have affirmed dismissal of Petitioner’s civil rights cases, on subject matter jurisdiction grounds, as “frivolous”, for his “fantastical” factual allegations. The Third Circuit did not apply the correct legal standard of “clearly baseless”, [Neiteke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319 (1989), and Denton v. Hernandez, 504 U.S. 25 (1992), for affirming the dismissal of Petitioner’s case. It used the older “categories” standard of Hagans v. Levine, 415 U.S. 528 (1974), for “frivolous”. ; The Questions Prete are: 1. Is the legal standard for dismissal of a plaintiffs 42 U.S.C. § 1983 case, for factual allegations deemed “fantastical” by the court, the “clearly baseless” standard of Neitzke and Denton? If 50, were the dismissal of Petitioner’s case, and the affirmation thereof in : the Third Circuit, incorrect as a matter of law? ii 2. Is the “clearly baseless” standard for case dismissals, based on a plaintiffs [fantastical facts, precise enough in 2023, or, should the Supreme Court adopt a new standard for such dismissals, such as Justice Souter’s “little green men” of Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 696 (2009), jr a standard like, “facts that allege something not ccientifically possible, in the world as we currently know