United States Court of Appeals 

For the Seventh Circuit

Chicago, Illinois 60604

Submitted January 19, 2016*

Decided January 20, 2016

Before

RICHARD A. POSNER, Circuit Judge

FRANK H. EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge

DIANE S. SYKES, Circuit Judge

No. 15‐2814

TYRONE HURT,

Plaintiff‐Appellant,

v.

FERGUSON, MISSOURI, et al.,

Defendants‐Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District

Court for the Southern District of

Indiana, Indianapolis Division.

No. 1:15‐cv‐01054‐WTL‐TAB

William T. Lawrence,

Judge.

O R D E R

Tyrone Hurt, a resident of Washington, D.C., is a serial filer of frivolous and

indecipherable lawsuits. In this latest illegible complaint, Hurt has sued a swath of

defendants, including the cities of Ferguson, Missouri; Cleveland, Ohio; and Baltimore,

Maryland; “forty‐seven (47) states”; the federal government; and “all law enforcement

officials within this nation.” The district court screened Hurt’s complaint under 28 U.S.C.

                                                 

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

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

have concluded that the case is appropriate for summary disposition. See Fed. R. App.

P. 34(a)(2).

NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION

To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1
No. 15‐2814    Page 2

§ 1915(e)(2) and dismissed the case as frivolous. After noting that Hurt previously had

filed eight other frivolous suits in the Southern District of Indiana and been warned that

further frivolous filings risked sanctions, the court imposed a bar prohibiting Hurt from

filing any new cases in the district without prepaying the filing fee. The district court

noted that other courts had also imposed filing restrictions on Hurt. See, e.g., Hurt v. Soc.

Sec. Admin., 544 F.3d 308, 311 (D.C. Cir. 2008); Hurt v. United States, 2013 WL 6489951

(D. Mass. Dec. 5, 2013).

This appeal is frivolous. We agree with the district court’s dismissal in this case

and think the imposition of sanctions against Hurt was proper. In addition to the eight

frivolous lawsuits filed in the Southern District of Indiana, Hurt also has filed two suits

in the Western District of Wisconsin and ten appeals to this court.1 We now order Hurt

to show cause within 14 days why the court should not impose sanctions under Federal

Rule of Appellate Procedure 38 for filing a frivolous appeal. Possible sanctions include

revocation of Hurt’s IFP status, a fine, and an order under Support Sys. Int’l., Inc. v. Mack,

45 F.3d 185 (7th Cir. 1995), barring Hurt from filing any other litigation in this circuit

until he has paid all the fees he owes to the district courts in this circuit and to us.

AFFIRMED

                                                 

1 See Hurt v. Germany, No. 1:15‐cv‐00939‐JMS‐DKL (S.D. Ind. June 17, 2015); Hurt

v. City of Chicago, No. 1:15‐cv‐00623‐RLY‐DML (S.D. Ind. May 12, 2015), appeal dismissed

No. 15‐2487 (7th Cir. Oct. 29, 2015); Hurt v. U.S. House of Representatives,

No. 1:14‐cv‐01847‐JMS‐DKL (S.D. Ind. Jan. 27, 2015), appeal dismissed No. 15‐1673

(7th Cir. Aug. 14, 2015); Hurt v. Tuskegee Airmen, No. 1:14‐cv‐01866‐LJM‐TAB (S.D. Ind.

Dec. 16, 2014); Hurt v. Soc. Sec. Admin., No. 1:14‐cv‐02015‐WTL‐TAB (S.D. Ind. Dec. 11,

2014); Hurt v. Unknown, No. 1:14‐cv‐02016‐TWP‐DKL (S.D. Ind. Dec. 11, 2014), appeals

dismissed, Nos. 15‐1707 (7th Cir. June 22, 2015), 15‐2268 (7th Cir. Aug. 7, 2015); Hurt v.

United States, No. 1:14‐cv‐01846‐TWP‐DKL (S.D. Ind. Dec. 9, 2014), appeal dismissed,

No. 15‐1916 (7th Cir. Aug. 7, 2015); Hunt v. Hinson, No. 1:14‐cv‐01781‐TWP‐TAB

(S.D. Ind. Nov. 5, 2014), appeals dismissed Hurt v. Hinson, Nos. 14‐3561 (7th Cir. Jan. 22,

2015), 15‐1667 (7th Cir. June 22, 2015), 15‐1668 (7th Cir. June 22, 2015) (docketed in the

district court under the name “Tyrone Hunt”); Hurt v. D.C. Gov’t, No. 3:13‐cv‐00033‐bbc

(W.D. Wis. Feb. 15, 2013), summarily aff’d No. 13‐1413 (7th Cir. Apr. 5, 2013); Hurt v. Paige,

No. 3:12‐cv‐00939‐bbc (W.D. Wis. Feb. 15, 2013), summarily aff’d No. 13‐1412 (7th Cir.

Apr. 5, 2013). Hurt’s frivolous filings are hardly limited to the Seventh Circuit. See Hurt

v. Encinia, 2015 WL 6674820, at *3 (S.D. Tex. Oct. 30, 2015) (counting 468 civil actions filed

by Hurt in district courts across the country since 1985).