Curry v. Ragan, 17095.
| Decision Date | 13 October 1958 |
| Docket Number | No. 17095.,17095. |
| Citation | 257 F.2d 449 |
| Parties | George L. CURRY, Appellant, v. Wallace C. RAGAN et al., Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
George L. Curry, pro se.
Joe S. Moss, R. H. Burks, Acting City Atty., Homer T. Bouldin, Sr. Asst. City Atty., Houston, Tex., for appellees.
Before RIVES, JONES and BROWN, Circuit Judges.
Certiorari Denied October 13, 1958. See 79 S.Ct. 78.
With commendable zeal and energy, accompanied by an intelligent oral argument, the appellant, a layman, pro se, prosecutes this appeal from a judgment dismissing his complaint on the double ground, "that the pleadings of plaintiff fail to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, and that there is a want of federal jurisdiction," and from a further judgment denying his motion to reconsider and reinstate the case.
The complaint and amendments thereto and further pleadings, apparently by way of replication, are extremely lengthy, comprising more than sixty typed legalized pages. They have received our careful consideration. They allege many causes of action cognizable in the State Courts of Texas, such as false arrest, false imprisonment, trespass, malicious prosecution, and tortious negligence. They contain many conclusions, and the facts alleged are qualified by many adjectives. We do not, however, find any plain statement showing that the federal district court had jurisdiction, nor any "short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Rule 8(a), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 28 U.S.C.
For the federal jurisdiction claimed, the appellant relies upon Article III, Sec. 2, Paragraph 1 of the Constitution of the United States, upon the Fourteenth Amendment, Sec. 1, upon Title 28 U.S. Code, § 1343, and upon Title 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1985. He sues a Justice of the Peace of a precinct in Harris County, Texas, the surety on the Justice's official bond, the Justice's "Chief Civil Clerk," and his "Night Criminal Clerk," three police officers of the City of Houston, and that municipal corporation. He alleges that the Justice of Peace "set the chain of events in motion" by the rendition of a judgment against him in a "Kangaroo Court Trial" on what he describes as a groundless "Forcible Entry and Detainer Complaint." Among his statement of points, his Ninth Point comes near to recognizing the fallacy of his claim of federal jurisdiction:
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