Hoskins v. Poelstra
| Decision Date | 28 February 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 02-2814.,02-2814. |
| Parties | James HOSKINS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. John POELSTRA, et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
v.
John POELSTRA, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
Page 762
James Hoskins (submitted), Milwaukee, WI, pro se.
Robert J. Lerner (submitted), Perry, Shapiro, Quindel, Saks, Charlton & Lerner, Grant F. Langley, Milwaukee's City Attorney's Office, Milwaukee, WI, for defendants-appellees.
Before EASTERBROOK, ROVNER, and EVANS, Circuit Judges.
Page 763
EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge.
According to the complaint that James Hoskins filed pro se, employees of Milwaukee entered his land, demolished his dog house, and ripped up his flower bed. Building Inspector Michael Pitts told Hoskins that this had been done because the dog house and flower bed were on the City's land; Hoskins believes that they were on his side of the property line and that the searches and seizures are attributable to city officials' efforts to abet a private land-acquisition scheme. Moreover, Hoskins contends, the City demolished his property 27 days after giving him 30 days to act on his own (or, presumably, to protest to higher officials), thus violating his right to due process of law.
The complaint is well written, and Hoskins's grievance is easy to understand. At about 2½ single-spaced pages, it meets the description of Fed.R.Civ.P. 8. The legal theories are well established; Hoskins is entitled to relief if he can prove what he alleges, so the complaint survives a test under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). Nonetheless, the district judge dismissed the complaint — and without waiting for the defendants to request this step. District judges have ample authority to dismiss frivolous or transparently defective suits spontaneously, and thus save everyone time and legal expense. This is so even when the plaintiff has paid all fees for filing and service (as Hoskins did). See Rowe v. Shake, 196 F.3d 778, 783 (7th Cir.1999). But when exercising discretion to review complaints, judges must take care that initial impressions, and the lack of an adversarial presentation, not lead to precipitate action that backfires and increases the duration and cost of the case.
The district judge's eye was caught by the complaint's allegation that John Poelstra (a private citizen) conspired with the state actors to violate Hoskins's rights. The judge wrote that "[a] complaint must contain factual allegations suggesting that the defendants reached a meeting of the minds .... While Hoskins invoked the term `conspiracy' numerous times in his complaint, allegations of a conspiracy are vague and ill-defined, and far short of meeting the requirement that a claim of conspiracy be pleaded with specificity." (Citations omitted.) The district judge then dismissed the complaint "for failure to state a claim." The order states that dismissal is without prejudice. When a court dismisses without prejudice only the complaint, and thus invites refiling, it is inappropriate to enter a judgment — but in this case the court did so, in the form prescribed by Fed.R.Civ.P. 58, dismissing the "case" without any suggestion that Hoskins was entitled to plead again. Understandably perplexed about what he was supposed to do...
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