[DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

________________________ No. 12

- 10374 Non

- Argument Calendar

________________________ D.C. Docket No. 1:11

- cv - 02568

- AT

DANIEL HARGROVE, Plaintiff

- Appellant,

versus UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CORP., SECRETARY, US DEPARTMENT OF TR EASURY, SECRETARY OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA, Defendants

- Appellees.

________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern Di strict of Georgia

________________________ (February 21, 2013) Before CARNES , BARKETT and ANDERSON , Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:

Case: 12-10374 Date Filed: 02/21/2013 Page: 1 of 32 Daniel Hargrove, a Georgia prisoner, appeals pro se the district court’s dismissal of his civil action as frivolous and for failure to state a claim , pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1). In the instant complaint, Hargrove alleged that (1) the government had made the citizens of the United States “assets” to keep the government afloat after it went bankrupt in 1933; (2 ) the Fourteenth Amendment was invalid; (3) the United States was a corporation; and (4) Hargrove was owed $400,000,000, because he became the “secured party” and “holder in due course of the preferred stock” of the United States. On appeal, Hargrove reit erates the allegations from his complaint. We review de novo the district court’s sua sponte dismissal of a complaint for failure to state a claim under § 1915A(b)(1), using the same standards t hat govern dismissals under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Ru le 12(b)(6). Leal v. Ga. Dep’t of Corr. , 254 F.3d 1276, 1278

- 79 (11th Cir. 2001). Under § 1915A, the district court (1) shall review, either before docketing or as soon as practicable after docketing, a civil complaint brought by a prisoner against a gov ernment defendant, and (2) dismiss the complaint if it is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a), (b)(1). Pro

se pleadings are held to a less strict standard than pleadings filed by lawyers and, thus, are construed liberally. Alba v. Montford , 517 F.3d 1249, 1252 (11th Cir. 2008). A legal claim or argument that is not briefed on appeal is deemed

Case: 12-10374 Date Filed: 02/21/2013 Page: 2 of 33 abandoned. Access Now, Inc. v. Southwest Airlines Co. , 385 F.3d 1324, 1330 (11th Cir. 2004). To properly state a claim, a complaint must contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is ent itled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ.
P. 8(a)(2). In reviewing a court’s dismissal of a complaint, we must accept the factual allegatio ns in the complaint as true and construe them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Timson v. Sampson , 518 F.3d 870, 872 (11th Cir. 2008). However, the complaint must allege facts that, if true, “state a claim to relief that is plausible on its f ace,” and conclusory statements, without more, are insufficient. Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S. Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L. Ed. 2d 868 (2009) (quotation omitted). Hargrove abandoned his claim on appeal by failing to raise any legal argument chal lenging the district court’s dismissal of his complaint. Even if Hargrove’s appellate brief could be construed as arguing that the district court erred in dismissing his complaint, Hargrove’s complaint co ntains nothing more than conclusory, facially impla usible allegations ; thus, the district court did not err in dismissing his complaint for failure to state a claim. AFFIRMED. Case: 12-10374 Date Filed: 02/21/2013 Page: 3 of 3