# Long v. Lanier

> District Court, District of Columbia · December 13, 2010

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/2658830

## Case

- **Court:** District Court, District of Columbia
- **Decided:** December 13, 2010
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Opinion
- **Judges:** Judge Richard W. Roberts
- **Nature of suit:** Civil
- **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/2658830

## Opinion text

FILED
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DEC 1 3 2010
FORTHE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Clerk, U.S. District & Bankruptcy
Courts for the District of Columbia
)
Karen F. Long, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. ) Civil Action No. 10 21fJ8
)
Cathy Lanier, )
)
Defendant. )
)

MEMORANDUM OPINION

This matter is before the Court on its initial review of plaintiffs pro se complaint and

application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis. The Court will grant the in forma pauperis

application and dismiss the case because the complaint fails to meet the minimal pleading

requirements of Rule 8(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Pro se litigants must comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Jarrell v. Tisch,

656 F. Supp. 237, 239 (D.D.C. 1987). Rule 8(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires

complaints to contain "(1) a short and plain statement of the grounds for the court's jurisdiction

[and] (2) a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief."

Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a); see Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1950 (2009); Ciralsky v. CIA, 355

F.3d 661,668-71 (D.C. Cir. 2004). The Rule 8 standard ensures that defendants receive fair

notice of the claim being asserted so that they can prepare a responsive answer and an adequate

defense and determine whether the doctrine of res judicata applies. Brown v. Califano, 75

F.R.D. 497, 498 (D.D.C. 1977).

/
Plaintiff, a resident of Oxon Hill, Maryland, sues Cathy Lanier, Chief of the District of

Columbia Metropolitan Police Department. The complaint, consisting of scribbling and

disjointed phrases, fails to provide any notice of a claim or the basis of federal court jurisdiction. I

A separate Order of dismissal accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.

United States District Judge
Date: December ~., 2010

I This complaint is one of nine such submissions received by the Clerk's Office on the

same day. Each complaint names a different defendant but is otherwise the same. Moreover,
similar complaints were dismissed in August, September and November ofthis year for the same
reasons. Plaintiff is warned that her persistence in filing similar lawsuits may result in the
imposition of restrictions on her ability to file cases in this Court.

2

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/2658830. Public record. Not legal advice.