Derian Douglas Hickman, 

Plaintiff, 

v. 

NASA et aI., 

Defendants. 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 

FILED 

DEC t. 3 2009 

Clerk, U.S. District and 

Bankruptcy Courts 

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MEMORANDUM OPINION 

Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, has filed a complaint and an application to proceed in forma 

pauperis. The application will be granted and the complaint will be dismissed. 

Complaints filed by pro se litigants are held to less stringent standards than are formal 

pleadings drafted by lawyers. See Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520 (1972). Nonetheless, pro 

se plaintiffs must comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Jarrell v. Tisch, 656 F. 

Supp. 237, 239 (D.D.C. 1987). Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure states the 

minimum requirements for complaints. Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). Rule 8(a) requires that a complaint 

contain a short and plain statement of the grounds upon which federal jurisdiction rests, a short 

and plain statement showing that the plaintiff is entitled to relief, and a demand for judgment for 

the relief sought. The minimum requirements Rule 8 imposes are designed to provide defendants 

with sufficient notice of the claim or claims being asserted in order to allow defendants to 

prepare a responsive answer and an adequate defense, and to determine whether the doctrine of 

res judicata applies. Brown v. Califano, 75 F.R.D. 497, 498 (D.D.C. 1977). Further, compliance 

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with Rule 8(a)'s requirements should provide a court with sufficient information to determine 

whether it has jurisdiction over the claims. 

In its entirety, this one-page pro se complaint against NASA and the Federal Aviation 

Administration states as follows: 

Requesting pilot license and aircraft information, private airport, ship dock license 

or registrations. Also Discovery Shuttle information and United States patent 

filings and copyrights on the name Discovery Shuttle and Discovery Channel, also 

Discover Card. Trademarks. Compensation for discrimination and lost business 

revenue. Compensation for property lost while awaiting court dates. Asking for 

jury trial. 100 million dollars and property return. 

Complaint at 1 (punctuation and spelling altered). This complaint represents no more than a list 

of desires, and does not identify any claims being pursued. Indeed, it does not present any factual 

allegations that would support a claim against the defendants. Accordingly, the complaint will 

be dismissed for failure to comply with the requirements of Rule 8. 

Plaintiff has filed at least ten complaints this year, all of which have been dismissed in 

screening because either the complaint is clearly frivolous and based on delusions or does not 

meet the minimum standards required as set froth in Rule 8. 1 The plaintiff is advised that ifhe 

persists in filing such complaints, this Court may restrict his abili to proceed in forma pauperis. 

A separate order accompanies this memor'aI)!~~ 

United States District Judge 

1 In addition to this one and another submitted on December 3,2009, plaintiff has filed at 

least eight other complaints. See Civil Action Nos. 09-342,09-359,09-816,09-974,09-1071, 

09-1362,09-1616,09-2251. 

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