Jfn tbe Wniteb ~tates <tCourt of jf eberal <tClaims 

No. 18-561C 

(Filed October 30, 2018) 

NOT FOR PUBLICATION 

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MARCO M. TORRES, * 

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Plaintiff, * 

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v. * 

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THE UNITED STATES, * 

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Defendant. * 

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ORDER 

The government has moved to dismiss a complaint brought by Marco M. 

Torres for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(l) of the Rules of the 

Court of Federal Claims (RCFC) and for failure to state a claim under RCFC 

12(b)(6). In his rambling complaint, Mr. Torres seemingly objects to the United 

States Supreme Court's treatment of a petition for a hearing or rehearing en bane 

that he apparently (and inaptly) filed on August 28, 2017, under the Federal Rules 

of Appellate Procedure. Compl. at 2. Plaintiff does not allege any facts concerning 

himself, and primarily muses whether the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to review 

its own decisions to correct such problems as due process violations, occasionally 

referencing the Seventh, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments and equal protection. 

See Compl. at 4-16. For the reasons stated below, the Court finds that it lacks 

subject-matter jurisdiction over plaintiff's claims. 

On April 16, 2018, the Clerk's office received a complaint from plaintiff, 

representing himself, along with an application to proceed in forma pauperis. 1 

Plaintiff has, since 2003, filed at least ten suits in the U.S. District Court for the 

Middle District of Florida and has been sanctioned by that court as a "frequent filer 

of frivolous actions, [who] often sues the judiciary." Def.'s Mot. to Dismiss (Def.'s 

1 The application submitted by plaintiff is incomplete. Within 28 days of the date 

of this order, Mr. Torres shall file either a complete application or the required 

filing fee. 

7017 262 □ □□□□ 7637 4631 
Mot.), App. at 12 (Order, Torres v. Roberts, Case no. 8:17-mc-15-T-23TGW (M.D. 

Fla. Feb. 27, 2017)). The government filed a motion to dismiss this case on June 15, 

2018. In its motion, the government maintains that plaintiff's case is barred by res 

judicata, due to a district court dismissal of a case he had brought against the 

individual justices of the Supreme Court challenging their denial of his petition for 

a writ of certiorari. Def.'s Mot. at 3, 5-7. The government also argues that the case 

should be dismissed because Mr. Torres failed to follow a prior order2 from the 

district court, id. at 5-8, and that this court does not have jurisdiction to hear 

plaintiff's case, id. at 8-10. 

On August 13, 2018, one month after the deadline for responding to the 

government's motion, plaintiff filed a motion for a more definite statement under 

RCFC 12(e), explaining that he does not understand the four paragraphs stating the 

issues presented by the government's motion, as well as the two pages of the motion 

concerning the standard of review. Pl.'s Mot. for More Definite Statement, ECF No. 

7, at 1-2. But the statement of issues is more fully explicated in the rest of 

defendant's motion, see Def.'s Mot. at 5-10 and, unlike Mr. Torres's complaint, the 

standard of review pages are not even remotely vague or ambiguous. Plaintiff's 

motion is accordingly DENIED. 

Also on August 13, the Clerk's Office received a document from plaintiff 

which was entitled "A Writ of Objection to the Defendant['s] Motion to Dismiss for 

Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction," which the Court allowed to be filed as an 

untimely response to the government's motion. See Resp. to Mot., ECF No. 8 at 1-

12, 14. Although it is hard to make sense of his arguments, plaintiff seems to 

contend that res judicata cannot apply because he never received a jury trial in the 

district court. Id. 6-7. Mister Torres reiterates that he does not understand 

defendant's argument regarding his failure to provide our court with a copy of the 

district court order. Id. at 7-8. As the basis for our court's jurisdiction, plaintiff 

cites the First Amendment's right to petition government; the Little Tucker Act, 28 

U.S.C. § 1346, which concerns the jurisdiction of district courts; a procedural statute 

regarding our court, 28 U.S.C. § 2503(b); and the organic statute providing for our 

court's composition, 28 U.S.C. § 171. Resp. to Mot. at 6. And he appears to be 

arguing that his claim against the Supreme Court is a civil rights action brought 

under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. See id. at 10, 12. In the government's reply, among other 

things, it correctly points out that the provisions identified by Mr. Torres do not 

provide a basis for our jurisdiction, Def.'s Reply to Pl.'s Resp. at 2 n.2, and that our 

2 The government attaches to its motion a copy of a 2017 order from the Florida 

court requiring the plaintiff to pay monetary sanctions if he again files a frivolous 

action in federal court. Def.'s Mot., App. at 13. That court also required him to file 

a copy of the 2017 order with all future filings in federal court, which plaintiff has 

not done here. 

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court does not have jurisdiction over civil rights claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, id. 

at 3 (citing McCauley v. United States, 38 Fed. Cl. 250, 265 (1997)). 

Although the government's primary argument is that the case should be 

dismissed due to the application of res judicata, Def.'s Mot. at 5-8, several factors 

counsel against reaching this result. First, defendant is basing this aspect of its 

motion on the preclusive effect of a district court decision finding a case against the 

individual justices to be frivolous and thus not stating claims for relief. Id. at 6. 

But such a question is thus not jurisdictional in nature, and the Court must address 

jurisdictional issues first. See Chisolm v. United States, 82 Fed. Cl. 185, 192 (2008) 

(citing Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env't, 523 U.S. 83, 93-95 (1998)). In 

addition, with the complaint in the other case not having been filed, it is difficult for 

this court to compare the matters alleged. Finally, it seems unlikely that the 

Supreme Court's treatment of a petition allegedly received on August 28, 2017, see 

Compl. at 2, could have been at issue in a decision dated February 27, 2017, see 

Def.'s Mot., App. at 13.3 

The Court need never reach the above-discussed grounds, for it is clear that 

subject-matter jurisdiction is lacking in this case. On the first page of the 

complaint, Mr. Torres identifies the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 149l(a)(l), as the 

source of our jurisdiction. But under that act, we are empowered only to hear 

claims of violations of constitutional provisions that mandate the payment of money 

when violated. See United States v. Mitchell, 463 U.S. 206, 216-17 (1983); Smith v. 

United States, 709 F.3d 1114, 1116 (Fed. Cir. 2013) ("To be cognizable under the 

Tucker Act, the claim must be for money damages against the United States, and 

the substantive law must be money-mandating."). 

To the extent the complaint can be comprehended, it contains references to 

due process, equal protection, and the Seventh and Ninth Amendments. 4 But none 

of the provisions identified by plaintiff are money-mandating, and thus their 

violation would not be within our court's jurisdiction. See LeBlanc v. United States, 

50 F.3d 1025, 1028 (Fed. Cir. 1995) (Fifth Amendment Due Process or Equal 

3 Concerning the failure of Mr. Torres to include a copy of the district court order 

with his complaint in this case, it is difficult to see how that can be a basis for 

dismissal as opposed to an act of contempt for the district court. 

4 Plaintiff also cites the Fourteenth Amendment, presumably the first section, 

which does not restrict the federal government. See San Francisco Arts & Athletics, 

Inc. v. United States Olympic Comm., 483 U.S. 522, 542 n.21 (1987). The Court 

assumes that plaintiff intended to cite the Due Process clause and the so-called 

equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment. 

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Protection); 5 Webster v. United States, 7 4 Fed. Cl. 439, 444 (2006) (Seventh 

Amendment); Hernandez v. United States, 93 Fed. Cl. 193, 198 (2010) (Ninth 

Amendment). In his response to the government's motion, Mr. Torres also cites the 

First Amendment and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Resp. to Mot. at 6, 10, 12. But claims 

based on those provisions are also not within our jurisdiction. United States v. 

Connolly, 716 F.2d 882, 887 (Fed. Cir. 1983) (First Amendment); McCauley, 38 Fed. 

Cl. at 265 (section 1983). 

More fundamentally, however, our court does not have jurisdiction to review 

the decisions of any other federal court, much less the Supreme Court of the United 

States. Hicks v. United States, No. 10-793C, 2011 WL 3319563, at *3 (2011) 

(holding that our court lacks jurisdiction over decisions of the Supreme Court); see 

also Joshua v. United States, 17 F.3d 378, 380 (Fed. Cir. 1994) (holding that this 

court "does not have jurisdiction to review the decisions of district courts ... 

relating to proceedings before those courts"); Vereda, Ltda. v. United States, 271 

F.3d 1367, 1375 (Fed. Cir. 2001) (explaining that this court is not an appellate 

tribunal, and "does not have jurisdiction to review the decisions of district courts"); 

Bafford v. United States, No. 09-030, 2009 WL 2391785, at *4 (Fed. Cl. Aug. 3, 2009) 

(explaining that this court does not have jurisdiction to review the decisions of 

federal courts of appeal). Because Mr. Torres is complaining about judicial 

decisions of the Supreme Court, there is nothing our court can do about his matter, 

and it would be futile to allow him his requested opportunity to amend the 

complaint. 

Accordingly, the government's motion to dismiss this case for lack of subjectmatter jurisdiction, under RCFC 12(b)(l), is GRANTED.6 The Clerk shall close the 

case. 

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

5 The Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment may only be a basis for our 

jurisdiction when a claim concerns an illegal exaction. See Aerolineas Argentinas v. 

United States, 77 F.3d 1564, 1573 (Fed. Cir. 1996); Coleman v. United States, No. 

13-431C, 2014 WL 949984, at *3 (Fed. Cl. Mar. 7, 2014). 

G Because jurisdiction is lacking, the RCFC 12(b)(6) portions of government's 

motion are DENIED as moot, without prejudice. The Court notes, however, that 

Mr. Torres fails to allege anything that the Supreme Court has done to him, much 

less anything resembling a cognizable claim. 

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