Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca7-15-03291/USCOURTS-ca7-15-03291-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Robert L. Tatum
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

United States Court of Appeals 

For the Seventh Circuit

Chicago, Illinois 60604

Submitted February 3, 2016*

Decided February 3, 2016

Before

DANIEL A. MANION, Circuit Judge

ILANA DIAMOND ROVNER, Circuit Judge

DAVID F. HAMILTON, Circuit Judge

No. 15‐3291

ROBERT L. TATUM, on behalf of Blacks

(African Americans),

Plaintiff‐Appellant,

v.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Defendant‐Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District

Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

No. 15‐CV‐00453

Rudolph T. Randa,

Judge.

O R D E R

Robert Tatum, a Wisconsin inmate, sued the United States demanding redress for

all descendants of persons brought from Africa as slaves before the Civil War. The

district court dismissed the suit without prejudice at screening, see 28 U.S.C. § 1915A,

and we affirm that decision.

                                                 

* The United States was not served with process in the district court and is not

participating in this appeal. After examining the appellant’s brief and the record, we

have concluded that oral argument is unnecessary. Thus the appeal is submitted on the

brief and the record. See FED. R. APP. P. 34(a)(2)(C).

NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION

To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1

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No. 15‐3291    Page 2

Putting aside the obstacle of sovereign immunity, see, e.g., United States v. Bormes,

133 S.Ct. 12, 16 (2012), Tatum lacks standing to sue for wrongs inflicted on third parties.

Even if Tatum himself is a descendant of slaves (an allegation he never makes in his

complaint), a plaintiff cannot pursue claims belonging to his ancestors whether or not

the wrongs done to the ancestors have injured the plaintiff indirectly. In re African–

American Slave Descendants Litig., 471 F.3d 754, 759–60, 762 (7th Cir. 2006); Cato v.

United States, 70 F.3d 1103, 1109–10 (9th Cir. 1995); see also Alexander v. Oklahoma,

382 F.3d 1206, 1215–20 (10th Cir. 2004) (explaining that claims brought by victims and

their descendants for injuries incurred during a 1920s race riot were barred by statute of

limitations).

In view of our decision in In re African–American Slave Descendants Litigation,

this appeal is frivolous and counts as one of Tatum’s allotted strikes under the Prison

Litigation Reform Act. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). We caution Tatum that if he incurs three

strikes he will be required to prepay all filing fees for future civil litigation unless he

“is under imminent danger of serious physical injury.” Id.; see Kalinowski v. Bond,

358 F.3d 978, 979 (7th Cir. 2004).   

AFFIRMED.

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