UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

TENTH CIRCUIT 

CODY ROBERT JUDY, 

Plaintiff – Appellant, 

v. 

BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA, a/k/a 

Barry Soetoro; DEMOCRATIC 

NATIONAL COMMITTEE; 

ORGANIZATION FOR ACTION, 

Defendants – Appellees. 

No. 14-4136 

(D.C. No. 1:14-CV-00093-TS) 

(D. Utah) 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT

Before LUCERO, TYMKOVICH, and PHILLIPS, Circuit Judges. 

 Cody Robert Judy considered himself a candidate for President in both the 2008 

and 2012 United States Presidential races. President Barack Obama won both of those 

elections. Asserting that President Obama was not a natural-born citizen, Judy sued 

President Obama, and others, in federal court. At the outset, the district court granted 

Judy in forma pauperis status. But, ultimately, the district court dismissed Judy’s 

 

 After examining the briefs and the appellate record, this panel has determined 

unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist this appeal, so the case is 

ordered submitted without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 

34.1(G). This order and judgment is not binding precedent except under the doctrines of 

law of the case, claim preclusion, and issue preclusion. It may be cited, however, for its 

persuasive value consistent with Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32.1 and Tenth 

Circuit Rule 32.1. 

FILED 

United States Court of Appeals 

Tenth Circuit 

February 3, 2015

Elisabeth A. Shumaker 

Clerk of Court

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complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2), concluding that the case was frivolous.1

 We 

review this issue de novo. Perkins v. Kan. Dep’t of Corrs., 165 F.3d 803, 806 (10th Cir. 

1999). Because Judy is pro se, we liberally construe his pleadings. See Haines v. Kerner, 

404 U.S. 519, 520–21 (1972); Hall v. Bellmon, 935 F.2d 1106, 1110 (10th Cir. 1991). 

In support of his claims, Judy alleged that President Obama is not a natural-born 

citizen and is ineligible to serve as President. By running for President, he and others 

defrauded the United States and injured Judy’s campaigns. For redress, he asserted claims 

under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Sherman Act, and the Clayton Act. He sought compensatory 

and punitive damages for his claims, but didn’t seek to remove President Obama from 

office. He named several defendants: “Barack Hussein Obama aka Barry Soetoro – 

Organization for Action”; “Barack Obama – As Candidate Barack Obama also occupying 

the Office of the President illegally”; the Democratic National Convention (“DNC”); 

Mitch Stewart, Director of the DNC; Jeremy Bird, Deputy Director of the DNC; Debbie 

Wasserman Shultz, National Chair of the DNC; Jim Dabaki, Utah Chair of the DNC; 

Matt Lyon, Utah Executive Director of the DNC; Representative Nancy Pelosi; and 

Senator Harry Reid. 

 1

 While Judy is not a prisoner as defined by 28 U.S.C. § 1915, “‘[s]ection 1915(a) 

applies to all persons applying for IFP status, and not just to prisoners.’” Salgado-Toribio 

v. Holder, 713 F.3d 1267, 1270 (10th Cir. 2013) (alteration in original) (quoting Lister v. 

Dep’t of Treasury, 408 F.3d 1309, 1312 (10th Cir. 2005)); c.f. Lister, 408 F.3d at 1312 

(concluding that § 1915(a) “applies to all persons applying for IFP status, and not just to 

prisoners” and then applying § 1915(e)(2)(B)); Merryfield v. Jordan, 584 F.3d 923, 926 

(10th Cir. 2009) (“[T]he ifp statute draws several distinctions between prisoners and 

nonprisoners . . . .”). Other circuits have also expressly held that § 1915(e)(2) applies to 

nonprisoner litigants proceeding in forma pauperis. See, e.g., McGore v. Wrigglesworth, 

114 F.3d 601, 608–09 (6th Cir. 1997), overruled on other grounds by LaFountain v. 

Harry, 716 F.3d 944 (6th Cir. 2013). 

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Under § 1915(e)(2), a court must screen cases filed in forma pauperis and must 

“dismiss the case at any time if the court determines that . . . the action or appeal (i) is 

frivolous or malicious; (ii) fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted; or (iii) 

seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief.” The district 

court concluded that all three reasons supported its sua sponte dismissal. 

Dismissal of a pro se complaint for failure to state a claim is proper only 

where it is obvious that the plaintiff cannot prevail on the facts he has 

alleged and it would be futile to give him an opportunity to amend. In 

determining whether a dismissal is proper, we must accept the allegations 

of the complaint as true and construe those allegations, and any reasonable 

inferences that might be drawn from them, in the light most favorable to the 

plaintiff. 

Kay v. Bemis, 500 F.3d 1214, 1217 (10th Cir. 2007) (quoting Curley v. Perry, 246 

F.3d 1278, 1281 (10th Cir. 2001), and Gaines v. Stenseng, 292 F.3d 1222, 1224 (10th 

Cir. 2002); see also Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 324–25 (1989); Denton v. 

Hernandez, 504 U.S. 25, 33 (1992) (“[A] finding of factual frivolousness is 

appropriate when the facts alleged rise to the level of the irrational or the wholly 

incredible.”). 

For substantially the same reasons stated by the district court, we also conclude 

that the complaint was frivolous and failed to state a claim for relief under § 

1915(e)(2). We briefly discuss our reasoning here, although it largely mirrors the 

reasoning of the district court. 

First, addressing whether he adequately stated a claim for relief, Judy cites no 

basis in law for his claim that he is entitled to damages under § 1983, the Sherman 

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Act, or the Clayton Act. Even taking all his allegations as true and construing them in 

the light most favorable to his case, we see nothing even suggesting that he would 

ever be entitled to any sort of relief for President Obama’s (and the other Defendants’) 

supposed wrongdoing. Judy cannot point to a single case that construes any of these 

statutes in a way supporting his claims for relief. Next, because we see no scenario 

where he would be entitled to relief under § 1983, the Sherman Act, or the Clayton 

Act, we also agree with the district court that his complaint was frivolous. 

Judy argues that he was entitled to default judgment because he had submitted 

evidence establishing that he properly served the Defendants in this case and that they 

failed to timely respond. Alternatively, Judy argues that even if the Defendants 

weren’t served, the district court erred by not compelling service of process. None of 

this matters. Even if the Defendants were properly served, Judy would not have been 

entitled to default judgment because the district court was required to dismiss his 

complaint under § 1915(e)(2)(i)–(ii) as frivolous and for failing to state a claim for 

relief. See c.f. Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 324 (concluding that “[t]o prevent such abusive or 

captious litigation” the in forma pauperis statute “authorizes federal courts to dismiss 

a claim . . . if satisfied that the action is frivolous or malicious. Dismissals on these 

grounds are often made sua sponte prior to the issuance of process, so as to spare 

prospective defendants the inconvenience and expense of answering such 

complaints.” (internal quotations omitted) (citing Franklin v. Murphy, 745 F.2d 1221, 

1226 (9th Cir. 1984))). 

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Along those lines, Judy takes issue with the district court’s sua sponte decision to 

dismiss his complaint under § 1915(e)(2). He argues that in doing so the court acted as 

Defendants’ counsel. Contrary to Judy’s position, the court was obligated to dismiss 

his complaint sua sponte under § 1915(e)(2)’s screening mechanism. See c.f. Jones v. 

Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 214 (2007) (concluding that courts must screen sua sponte under 

§ 1915(e)); Neizke, 490 U.S. at 327 (concluding that the statute “accords judges . . . 

the unusual power to pierce the veil of the complaint’s factual allegations and dismiss 

those claims whose factual contentions are clearly baseless”). We see no error in the 

district court’s sua sponte action. 

In sum we conclude that the district court properly dismissed Judy’s complaint under 

§ 1915(e)(2)(i)–(ii).2 We AFFIRM. 

ENTERED FOR THE COURT 

Gregory A. Phillips 

Circuit Judge 

 2

 We don’t need to reach the issue under § 1915(e)(2)(iii) of whether the complaint 

sought damages from individuals immune from suit because it is sufficient that his 

complaint is either frivolous or fails to state a claim for relief under § 1915(e)(2)(i)–(ii). 

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