*

The defendants‐appellees were not served with process in the district court and are not

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

concluded that oral argument is unnecessary.  Thus, the appeal is submitted on the plaintiff‐

appellant’s brief and the record.  See FED. R. APP. P. 34(a)(2).

United States Court of Appeals

For the Seventh Circuit

Chicago, Illinois 60604

Submitted December 22, 2009*

Decided December 23, 2009

Before

DANIEL A. MANION, Circuit Judge

DIANE P. WOOD, Circuit Judge

DIANE S. SYKES, Circuit Judge

No. 09‐1646

AARON D. PINKSTON‐EL‐BEY,

Plaintiff‐Appellant,

v.

STATE OF ILLINOIS, et al.,

Defendants‐Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District

Court for the Southern District of Illinois.

No. 08‐cv‐111‐GPM

G. Patrick Murphy,

Judge.

O R D E R

Aaron Pinkston‐El‐Bey is an Illinois prisoner.  He is also a member of the Washitaw

Nation of Muurs, which his complaint explains are a people indigenous to North America,

yet descended from the Moors of North Africa, who practice a unique form of Islam.  After

prison officials shaved off his dreadlocks, which he wears for religious reasons, he filed a

sprawling suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the governor of Illinois, the director of the

Illinois Department of Corrections, and the wardens and chaplains of multiple Illinois

prisons.  Pinkston‐El‐Bey complained that these state officials had conspired to deprive him

NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION

To be cited only in accordance with

Fed. R. App. P. 32.1
No. 09‐1646 Page 2

and all other Washitaw Muurs in the Illinois prison system of rights guaranteed by the First

Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection

Clause.  The district court dismissed the suit on preliminary review for failure to state a

claim.  See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1).

Pinkston‐El‐Bey insists that his complaint outlines the alleged constitutional

violations and implicates the defendants; that is all he must do, he argues.  We disagree.  “A

pleading that offers ‘labels and conclusions’ or ‘a formulaic recitation of the elements of a

cause of action will not do.’ “ Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 S. Ct. 1937, 1949 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl.

Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)).  Instead, a complaint must allege facts that allow

a court “to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct

alleged.” Iqbal, 129 S. Ct. at 1949; see also Cooney v. Rossiter, 583 F.3d 967, 971 (7th Cir. 2009).

Yet Pinkston‐El‐Bey’s complaint alleges no facts that plausibly suggest he is entitled to

relief; his sweeping allegations of unconstitutional conspiracies hatched among a broad

swath of Illinois officials are too vague to state a claim.

Pinkston‐El‐Bey also argues that before dismissing his suit, the district court should

have allowed him to move for class certification or at least to amend his complaint.  But

§ 1915A does not require the district court to be so accommodating.  No motion for class

certification was pending.  And the district court had already allowed Pinkston‐El‐Bey an

opportunity to amend his original complaint, this putative class action being the result.

Pinkston‐El‐Bey’s complaint and appeal are both frivolous, so he has accumulated

two strikes.  See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g); Hains v. Washington, 131 F.3d 1248, 1250 (7th Cir. 1997).

AFFIRMED.