Court Opinion

ID: 9468230
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:08:31.296149+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:40:45.672885
License: Public Domain

HARRY T. EDWARDS, Circuit Judge,
concurring:
This pro se appeal is from an order of the District Court entered October 30,1980, dismissing appellant’s claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against four Justices of the Supreme Court and the “federal government.” Because appellant lacks standing to sue the Justices, and because appellant has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted against the “federal government,” his actions were properly dismissed.
In order to satisfy the case or controversy requirement of Art. Ill, and thus invoke the jurisdiction of the federal courts, appellant must allege some actual or threatened injury suffered as a result of the allegedly illegal conduct of the defendants, which injury is likely to be redressed if the requested relief is granted. Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group, 438 U.S. 59, 98 S.Ct. 2620, 57 L.Ed.2d 595 (1978); Simon v. Eastern Ky. Welfare Rights Organization, 426 U.S. 26, 96 S.Ct. 1917, 48 L.Ed.2d 450 (1976); Warth v. Sel-din, 422 U.S. 490, 95 S.Ct. 2197, 45 L.Ed.2d 343 (1975). Appellant’s complaint alleges that several Justices have deprived him of his constitutional rights by deciding cases involving official immunity so as to prevent him from obtaining relief in the courts. Since appellant was not a party to the immunity cases, he cannot allege that he is suffering any “distinct and palpable,” legally cognizable injury as a result of the immunity decisions of the Supreme Court. Moreover, even assuming, arguendo, that appellant has suffered or may hereafter *1267incur legally cognizable injury, he has failed to point to any relief that this court may award to redress his claims.
Appellant’s suit against the “federal government” also was properly dismissed. Nowhere in appellant’s complaint is the federal government, or any agency or official thereof (except the four Justices), linked to the alleged constitutional violations. Therefore, appellant failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted with respect to his charges against the federal government.