Nixon v. Phillipoff

• Decision Date: 06 August 1985
• Docket Number: Civ. No. S 85-177.
• Citation: 615 F. Supp. 890
• Parties: Ronnie L.R. NIXON, Plaintiff, v. Mark J. PHILLIPOFF, Donald D. Martin and Kendall I. Vail, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Indiana

615 F. Supp. 890

Ronnie L.R. NIXON, Plaintiff, v. Mark J. PHILLIPOFF, Donald D. Martin and Kendall I. Vail, Defendants.

Civ. No. S 85-177.

United States District Court, N.D. Indiana, South Bend Division.

August 6, 1985.

Ronnie L.R. Nixon, pro se.

Mark J. Phillipoff, Jones, Obenchain, Johnson, Ford, Pankow & Lewis, South Bend, Ind., for Phillipoff.

Frank A. Baldwin, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, Ind., for Martin.

William J. Boklund, LaPorte, Ind., for Vail.

ORDER

WILLIAM C. LEE, District Judge.

This matter is before the court on motions to dismiss filed by all of the defendants in this cause. For the following reasons, the motions to dismiss will be granted.

Plaintiff is proceeding pro se. Pro se pleadings are to be liberally construed. Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 92 S.Ct. 594, 30 L.Ed.2d 652 (1972). The district court's role is to ensure that the claims of pro se litigants are given "fair and meaningful consideration." Matzker v. Herr, 748 F.2d 1142, 1146 (7th Cir.1984); Caruth v. Pinkney, 683 F.2d 1044, 1050 (7th Cir. 1982). This court also recognizes that federal courts have historically exercised great tolerance to ensure that an impartial forum remains available to plaintiffs invoking the jurisdiction of the court without the guidance of trained counsel. Pro se motions and complaints such as the plaintiff's are held to less stringent pleading requirements; rigor in the examination of such motions, complaints and pleadings is inappropriate.

This cause arises out of a dispute in an underlying mortgage foreclosure action in the LaPorte Superior Court of LaPorte County, Indiana. Defendant Phillipoff filed the case with defendant Vail, the clerk of the court, and paid the filing fee in federal reserve notes. The case came before defendant Martin, who is a LaPorte Superior Court judge.

Plaintiff ("Nixon") moved for dismissal of the case on three grounds: (1) that Phillipoff had violated article 1, section 10, clause 1 of the United States Constitution by paying the filing fee with federal reserve notes instead of "lawful money" (i.e., gold and silver coin); (2) that Nixon was entitled to a jury trial, and Martin lacked jurisdiction to determine whether Nixon was entitled to a jury trial; and (3) the LaPorte Superior Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case because a federal land patent was involved. Judge Martin denied the motion to dismiss, and this suit followed.

Nixon sues under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1985 and 1986, asserting that the cause of action arises under article 1, § 10, cl. 1, article 3, § 2, cl. 3, article 6, §§ 2 and 3, and the first, fifth, sixth, ninth, tenth and fourteenth amendments. Nixon alleges that Phillipoff violated his oath to uphold the constitution by "making a thing other than gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debt, to wit; making false and counterfeit notes a tender in payment of filing fees assessed by the authority and for the use of the state," as well as "conspiring" with Martin to have the Superior Court take jurisdiction of the foreclosure suit. Nixon asserts that Vail violated article 1, § 10 by "receiving false tokens, to wit; Federal Reserve Notes, giving false receipts, making false documents knowing the same to contain false statements; and makeing (sic) false entries in order to cover up material facts." Nixon sues Judge Martin for his allegedly erroneous rulings concerning his jurisdiction over the foreclosure action.

Motions to Dismiss

The defendants have filed motions to dismiss. Although denominated as motions to dismiss, it is clear that the issues presented by these motions are best addressed after reference is made to the exhibits, pleadings, and other matters of record in this case. When matters outside the pleadings are presented to and not excluded by the court, a motion to dismiss will be converted into a motion for summary judgment under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See F.R.Civ.P. 12(b).

Under Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, summary judgment may only be granted if "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). Thus, summary judgment serves as a vehicle with which the court "can determine whether further exploration of the facts is necessary." Hahn v. Sargent, 523 F.2d 461, 464 (1st Cir.1975).

In making this determination, the court must keep in mind that the entry of summary judgment terminates the litigation, or an aspect thereof, and must draw all inferences from the established or asserted facts in favor of the non-moving party. Peoples Outfitting Co. v. General Electric Credit Corp., 549 F.2d 92 (7th Cir.1977). The non-moving party's reasonable allegations are to be accepted as true for purposes of summary judgment. Yorger v. Pittsburgh Corning Corp., 733 F.2d 1215, 1218-19 (7th Cir.1984). A party may not rest on the mere allegations of the pleadings or the bare contention that an issue of fact exists. Posey v. Skyline Corp., 702 F.2d 102, 105 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 104 S.Ct. 392, 78 L.Ed.2d 336 (1983). See Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970). See also Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. United Transportation Union, 734 F.2d 317 (7th Cir.1984); Korf v. Ball State University, 726 F.2d 1222 (7th Cir.1983). See generally C. Wright, Law of Federal Courts, § 99 (4th ed. 1983); 6 Moore's Federal Practice, § 56.15 (2d ed. 1984).

Stripped to its bare essentials, Nixon's suit is premised on three propositions: (1) that only specie (that is, gold and silver coin) are legal tender for purposes of paying a filing fee; (2) that Nixon's "land patent" divested the LaPorte Superior Court of jurisdiction to hear the mortgage foreclosure case; and (3) that Nixon was entitled to a trial by jury in the foreclosure action. The claims against the individuals flow from these claims. Phillipoff has allegedly violated the constitution by "making false and counterfeit notes a tender in payment of filing fees" and by conspiring with Martin to have the Superior Court take jurisdiction despite the tender of federal reserve notes, while Vail allegedly violated the constitution by accepting the notes as payment for the filing fee. For both claims to succeed, proposition (1) must be true. Likewise, the claims against Martin can succeed only if propositions (2) and (3) are true. The converse of this analysis is that, if all three propositions are false, then the actions of the defendants were legally and constitutionally proper. Therefore, instead of analyzing Nixon's claims in terms of elements of a claim under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1985, 1986, the court will examine these underlying premises each in turn.

Federal Reserve Notes as Legal Tender

Article 1, section 8, clause 5 of the Constitution gives Congress the authority "to coin Money, and regulate the Value thereof...." This clause gives Congress the exclusive ability to determine what will be legal tender throughout the country. The Legal Tender Cases, 110 U.S. 421, 446, 4 S.Ct. 122, 128-29, 28 L.Ed. 204 (1884); Veazie Bank v. Fenno, 76 U.S. (8 Wall.) 533, 548, 19 L.Ed. 482, 488 (1869); United States v. Rifen, 577 F.2d 1111, 1113 (8th Cir.1978). Pursuant to that authority, Congress has declared that

United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues. Foreign gold or silver coins are not legal tender for debts.

31 U.S.C. § 5103 (1984) (emphasis supplied). It is therefore clear that federal reserve notes are legal tender for any debt or public charge.

Nixon's argument is based on article 1, § 10, clause 1, which mandates that "No State shall ... make anything but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts...." Nixon asserts that this provision requires a state to accept and recognize only gold and silver coin as legal tender. The argument fails for several reasons.

First, Nixon's interpretation of article 1, § 10 creates a rather curious inconsistency with article 1, § 8, clause 5. If states can only recognize gold and silver coin as legal tender, then Congress does not have complete power to declare what shall constitute legal tender for payment of all debts, for a declaration that a treasury note or federal reserve note was legal tender would fly in the face of the restriction of § 10. While this is the conclusion which Nixon wants this court to reach (in effect declaring federal reserve notes illegal), it flies in the face of the clear import of § 8, clause 5's unrestricted language. The power to coin money necessarily carries with it the power to declare what is money, and the constitution does not limit Congress to gold and silver coin. Section 8 sets forth the powers of Congress, while § 10 imposes a restriction on the states. It strains logic and constitutional interpretation to claim that the framers of the constitution sought to limit Congress' power to coin money via an implication derived from a restriction directed not at Congress but at the states.

This strain in logic suggests the second reason for the failure of Nixon's argument: Nixon has misinterpreted the import of § 10's prohibition. Courts have uniformly interpreted § 10 as prohibiting states from declaring anything other than gold or silver coin as legal tender, The Legal Tender Cases, 110 U.S. at 446, 4 S.Ct. at 129; Rifen, 577 F.2d at 1113; yet these cases do not interpret § 10 as requiring states to accept only gold and silver coin as tender, nor could they, as they both recognize the unrestricted power of Congress to declare what shall constitute legal tender, including bills of credit, treasury notes, and federal reserve notes. In short, § 10...