Joseph Clarke v. Kimberly M. Esmond Adams

USCA11 Case: 22-14330 Document: 20-1 Date Filed: 08/21/2023 Page: 1 of 3
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
In the
United States Court of Appeals
For the Eleventh Circuit
____________________
No. 22-14330
Non-Argument Calendar
____________________
JOSEPH ALEXANDER CLARKE,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
KIMBERLY M. ESMOND ADAMS,
FANI T. WILLIS,
CATHELENE TINA ROBINSON,
CHRIS CARR,
Defendants-Appellees.
USCA11 Case: 22-14330 Document: 20-1 Date Filed: 08/21/2023 Page: 2 of 3
2 Opinion of the Court 22-14330
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
D.C. Docket No. 1:22-cv-04408-LMM
____________________
Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, and ABUDU and ANDERSON,
Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Joseph Clarke, a Georgia prisoner, appeals pro se the dismis-
sal of his complaint against various state and court officials.
42 U.S.C. § 1983. We affirm.
The district court did not abuse its discretion when it sua
sponte dismissed Clarke’s complaint, 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. Miller v.
Donald, 541 F.3d 1091, 1100 (11th Cir. 2008). Insofar as the com-
plaint challenges his incarceration with its references to the “com-
mercial charges” against him and the “confinement of [his] body
still being held as collateral,” the district court correctly concluded
that this challenge was barred under Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477(1994), because requiring the officials to accept his “unrebutted
commercial affidavit of truth” would necessarily imply the invalid-
ity of his convictions. And the district court correctly determined
that the complaint was otherwise frivolous because Clarke’s alle-
gations, which are “typical of those often used by so-called ‘sover-
eign citizens,’” lack “an arguable basis either in law or in fact.” Mil-
ler, 541 F.3d at 1100.
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22-14330 Opinion of the Court 3
We AFFIRM the dismissal of Clarke’s complaint.