Bryan v. Carter ( 2012 )

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FoR THE DISTRICT oF CoLUMBIA SEP 2 8 2012
c\en<, u.s. oasmcr & Bankruptcy
) courts for the Dlstrict ot Golulnb|a
Errol George Bryan, Jr., )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. ) Civil Action No.
)
Vance Carter, et al., )
)
Defendants. )
)
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter is before the Court on plaintiff s pro se complaint and application to proceed
in forma pauperis. The Court will grant plaintiff s application and dismiss the complaint for lack
of subject matter jurisdiction. See Fed. R. Civ. P. l2(h)(3) (requiring dismissal of a case when
jurisdiction is found wanting).
Plaintiff sues two Consulates of the Jamaican Embassy for monetary damages totaling
$70 million. From what the Court can discern from the complaint’s allegations and unexplained
attachments, plaintiff is an immigration and Customs Enforcement detainee at the LaSalle
Detention Facility in Trout, Louisiana. He also claims to be "a Sovereign of the State of
Delaware" who was subjected to an unlawful arrest. Compl. at 4. Plaintiff alleges that
defendants, in their official capacities as representatives of Jamaica, have subjected him, a
Jamaican national, to intentional infliction of emotional distress and human rights violations by
refusing to visit him in prison and help him presumably with his court and/or deportation
proceedings. See Compl. 111 2-7.
The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act ("FSIA") is the "sole basis for obtaining
jurisdiction over a foreign state in our courts." Argentine Republic v. Amerada Hess Shipping
Corp., 488 U.S. 428, 434 (l989). "The FSIA provides generally that a foreign state is immune
from the jurisdiction of the United States courts unless one of the exceptions listed in 28 U.S.C. §
l605(a) applies." Roea’er v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 646 F.3d 56, 58 (D.C. Cir. 201 l) (citation
and intemal quotation marks omitted). The complaint reveals no basis for finding a waiver of
defendants’ immunity under the FSIA. Therefore, the Court will dismiss this action. A separate
Order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.
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DATE: September if , 2012 United States District Judge