Onyiuke v. New Jersey State Supreme Court,, Civil Action No. 05-5404 (JAP).

• Decision Date: 27 June 2006
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 05-5404 (JAP).
• Citation: 435 F.Supp.2d 394
• Parties: David C. ONYIUKE, Plaintiff, v. NEW JERSEY STATE SUPREME COURT and New Jersey Board of Bar Examiners, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey

Page 394

435 F.Supp.2d 394

David C. ONYIUKE, Plaintiff, v. NEW JERSEY STATE SUPREME COURT and New Jersey Board of Bar Examiners, Defendants.

Civil Action No. 05-5404 (JAP).

United States District Court, D. New Jersey.

June 27, 2006.

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David C. Onyiuke, East Orange, NJ, Pro Se.

David B. Bender, Office of the New Jersey Attorney General, Division of Law & Public Safety, Trenton, NJ, for Defendants.

OPINION

PISANO, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

The Court faces a constitutional challenge to New Jersey Supreme Court Rule 1:24-2(b) ("Rule 1:24-2(b)"), which requires, inter aria, graduation from an accredited law school as a prerequisite to taking the New Jersey Bar Examination. The gravamen of Plaintiff's amended complaint is that rejections of his application to sit for the New Jersey Bar examination violated his rights under federal law and New Jersey law.

Plaintiff initiated this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343(3)¹ against the New Jersey Supreme Court, which enacted Rule 1:24-2(b), and the New Jersey Board of Bar Examiners, which is charged with the inspection and determination of qualification of candidates for the New Jersey Bar examination. Plaintiff alleges that Rule 1:24-2(b) violated his rights to due process and equal protection ensured by the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution as well as his liberty and right to engage in lawful economic subsistence, for which he relies on the Ninth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Plaintiff further alleges that Rule 1:24-2(b) violated his fundamental rights to acquire property, due process of law, equal protection, and fundamental fairness ensured by Art. 1, Para. 1 of the New Jersey Constitution. Finally, Plaintiff alleges that the New Jersey Supreme Court abused its mandate under Art. 6, s. 2, Para. 3 of the New Jersey Constitution to make rule for admission to the bar by enacting New Jersey Supreme Court Rule 1:24-2(b), failing to make rules for "all likely and credible foreseeable" applicants, failing to give public notice as to requisite courses to sit for the New Jersey bar, and by failing to perform ministerial duties. Plaintiff seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, reasonable monetary damages, "all un-earned income as New Jersey Attorney", attorney's fees, and costs.

Currently before the Court are: (1) Defendants' motion to dismiss the amended complaint and (2) Plaintiffs motion for leave to amend the amended complaint. This Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343(3), 1367. The Court decides this motion without oral argument as it is permitted to do under Fed.R.Civ.P. 78. Plaintiff appears pro se and the Court therefore construes liberally Plaintiffs amended complaint and his various motion papers. See Johnson v. State of New Jersey, 869 F.Supp. 289, 293 (D.N.J.1994). However, for the reasons discussed below, the Defendants' motion to dismiss the Complaint is granted, and Plaintiffs motion to amend the amended complaint is denied.

II. BACKGROUND²

Plaintiff represents that he is a United States citizen and has been a resident of New Jersey since 1995. Plaintiff attended the University of Calabar, Nigeria, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology. Plaintiff also attended the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, where he obtained a Bachelor of Law degree. Plaintiff states that the University of Ibadan is a premier institution, founded in 1948 as an external campus of the University of London, whose faculty is accredited by the statutory body regulating legal education in Nigeria. Thereafter, Plaintiff attended the Nigerian National Law School, where he received certification as a Barrister at Law. Plaintiff passed the New York Bar examination in 2001 and was admitted to practice law in New York in 2002.

Plaintiff alleges that he applied for both the February 2005 and July 2005 New Jersey Bar examinations. Further, in connection with his application for the February 2005 Bar examination, he submitted to the New Jersey Board of Bar Examiners a complete transcript of law courses he completed. Plaintiff states that he submitted this transcript "in lieu of requisite competencies needed for qualification to sit for New Jersey bar exam." (Am.Compl.¶ 10). The New Jersey Board of Bar Examiners rejected Plaintiffs applications for both the February 2005 and July 2005 New Jersey Bar examinations because Plaintiff received his law degree from a foreign institution that is not approved by the American Bar Association. The basis for the New Jersey Board of Bar Examiners' rejections of Plaintiffs application was New Jersey Supreme Court Rule 1:24-2(b) ("Rule 1:24-2(b)"). Rule 1:24-2(b) provides:

No person shall be admitted to the bar examination without first presenting to the Board, in the manner prescribed by its rules: ... (b) Certification by a duly authorized officer of the applicant's law school that it is approved by the American Bar Association and that it has awarded the applicant a Juris Doctor degree or its equivalent ...

Rule 1:24-2(b).³

Plaintiff initiated this action on November 15, 2005, and amended the complaint on December 15, 2005.⁴ On March 1, 2006 Defendants moved to dismiss the amended complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), (2), and (6). On April 6, 2006, before briefing on Defendants' motion was completed, Plaintiff moved to amend the amended complaint.

III. DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS THE COMPLAINT

Because both the New Jersey Supreme Court and the New Jersey Board of Bar Examiners are entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity and none of the exceptions to sovereign immunity is applicable, the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over this action and must dismiss the amended complaint pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1). In the alternative, the amended complaint also must be dismissed because (1) the Court must dismiss Plaintiff's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claims against both Defendants pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) since neither Defendant is a "person" under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and (2) given such dismissal of all of Plaintiffs federal claims, the Court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction under § 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c) over Plaintiffs State law claims.

A. Dismissal Under Rule 12(b)(1)

The Eleventh Amendment provides: "The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state." U.S. Const. amend. XI. While the text of the Eleventh Amendment expressly bars suits in federal court against States by citizens of other States or foreign states, the Eleventh Amendment has been broadly interpreted to prohibit suits by a State's own citizens as well. See A.W. v. Jersey City Public Schools, 341 F.3d 234, 238 (3d Cir.2003); Bennett v. City of Atlantic City, 288 F.Supp.2d 675, 679 (D.N.J.2003). This sweeping immunity "precludes both legal and equitable relief, as well as claims under Section 1983." Davis v. Township of Lakewood, No. 03-CIV-1025(MLC), 2005 WL 2313783, at *2 (D.N.J. Sept. 21, 2005); Bennett, 288 F.Supp.2d at 679 (stating that the Eleventh Amendment "applies regardless of whether a private plaintiff's suit is for money damages or some other type of relief') (internal quotations and citations omitted); Johnson v. State of New Jersey, 869 F.Supp. 289, 297 n. 8 (D.N.J.1994) (noting that the Eleventh Amendment bars claims against state agencies for injunctive relief as well as damages).

State sovereign immunity protects not only States, but also "entities and persons who can show that, even though the State is not the named defendant, the state is the real, substantial party in interest." Bennett, 288 F.Supp.2d at 679 (quotations and citation omitted). In general, "state agencies and state officials acting in their official capacities are routinely afforded Eleventh Amendment immunity" where " the judgment sought would expend itself on the public treasury or domain, or interfere with the public administration, ... or if the effect of the judgment would be to restrain the Government from acting, or to compel it to act,'" the State is the real, substantial party in interest. Bennett, 288 F.Supp.2d at 679 (quoting Dugan v. Rank, 372 U.S. 609, 620, 83 S.Ct. 999, 10 L.Ed.2d 15 (1963)); see also Davis, No. 03-CIV-1025(MLC), 2005 WL 2313783, at *2. In particular, factors a court should examine in determining whether state agencies, officials, or political subdivisions are arms of the state entitled to sovereign immunity are: "(1) whether payment of a judgment would come from the state treasury; (2) the status of the entity under state law; and (3) the entity's degree of autonomy." Bennett, 288 F.Supp.2d at 681.

The New Jersey Supreme Court is an arm of the State of New Jersey and is entitled to cloak itself in the State's sovereign immunity. Article III of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey, entitled "Distribution of the Powers of Government", provides: "The powers of the government shall be divided among three distinct branches, the legislative, executive, and judicial...." N.J. Const., Art. III, ¶ 1. Article VI of the New Jersey Constitution addresses the judicial power, and provides in relevant part: "The judicial power shall be vested in a Supreme Court, a Superior Court, and other courts of limited jurisdiction. ..." N.J. Const., Art. VI, § I, ¶ 1. Accordingly, "[t]he judicial branch is an integral part of the State of New Jersey." Johnson, 869 F.Supp. at 296 (collecting cases that consider the status of state courts under the Eleventh Amendment). Further, given the status of the New Jersey Supreme Court under the State Constitution as the incarnation and apex of the judicial power, any monetary judgment against it would be paid out of the State treasury. The New...