The opinion
FILED
7/13/2020
Clerk, U.S. District & Bankruptcy
Court for the District of Columbia
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
TIMOTHY PARHAM, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. ) Civil Action No. 20-0468 (UNA)
)
CHARLES RETTIG. )
)
Defendant. )
MEMORANDUM OPINION
The Court is mindful that complaints filed by pro se litigants are held to less stringent
standards than those applied to formal pleadings drafted by lawyers. See Haines v. Kerner, 404
U.S. 519, 520 (1972). Even pro se litigants, however, 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 that a complaint contain a short and plain statement of the
grounds upon which the Court’s jurisdiction depends, a short and plain statement of the claim
showing that the pleader is entitled to relief, and a demand for judgment for the relief the pleader
seeks. Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). The purpose of the minimum standard of Rule 8 is to give fair notice
to the defendants of the claim being asserted, sufficient to prepare a responsive answer, to
prepare an adequate defense and to determine whether the doctrine of res judicata applies.
Brown v. Califano, 75 F.R.D. 497, 498 (D.D.C. 1977). It is apparent that plaintiff’s complaint
accomplishes none of these goals.
Plaintiff alleges that the Internal Revenue Service has “used the transmitting utility
TIMOTHY JAMES PARHAM™ and [his] copyrighted name Timothy Parham© without [his]
permission and without compensating [him] monetarily as outlined in private TRUST documents
attached to [his] revocable living trust and UCC-1 financial statement[.]” Am. Compl. at 1. He
purports to allow the Internal Revenue Service to “steal any amount as long as [it] agree[s] to
repay one-thousand (1000) times the amounts that [it has] deducted from [plaintiff’s] wages
retroactively.” Id. at 1-2. Missing from the complaint, as amended, is a statement of a
cognizable claim or a basis for the Court’s jurisdiction. Because the complaint fails to comply
with Rule 8(a), the Court will dismiss it without prejudice.
An Order consistent with this Memorandum Opinion is issued separately.
DATE: July 13, 2020 /s/
JAMES E. BOASBERG
United States District Judge