FIORANI v. NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

Civil Action No. 1:14cv1498.

ROSS A. FIORANI, Plaintiff, v. NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION, et al., Defendants.

United States District Court, E.D. Virginia, Alexandria Division.

March 31, 2015.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Ross A Fiorani, Plaintiff, Pro Se.


ORDER

By Order dated May 12, 2000, plaintiff Ross A. Fiorani — a frequent filer of frivolous lawsuits in this district — was "enjoined from filing future actions in federal district court without prior leave of court." See Fiorani v. Metcalf, et al., 1:00cv619 (E.D. Va, May 12, 2000) (Order and Memorandum Opinion) (Bryan, J.). In October 2014, in an apparent attempt to avoid such pre-filing review, plaintiff initiated this action by filing a complaint against defendants in the District of Maryland, together with a motion to proceed in forma pauperis. Shortly thereafter, the matter was transferred to the Eastern District of Virginia, with a ruling on plaintiffs motion to proceed in forma pauperis deferred pending review by this Court. By Order dated November 25, 2014, the matter was referred to the assigned magistrate judge, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636, for preparation of a prompt report and recommendation addressing (i) whether plaintiffs in forma pauperis application should be granted or denied, and (ii) whether the matter should be dismissed, either in whole or in part, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2).

On December 29, 2014, the assigned magistrate judge filed his Proposed Findings of Fact and Recommendations in accordance with the November 25, 2014 referral order. The magistrate judge recommends that plaintiffs application to proceed in forma pauperis be denied, and that the matter be dismissed as frivolous pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2). The pro se plaintiff has filed multiple documents in response to the magistrate judge's Report and Recommendation, entitled (i) "Plaintiffs Objections, Disputes and Counter-Claims Against the Court's Proposed Findings of Fact and Recommendations" (Doc. 9), (ii) "Plaintiffs Urgent Motion to Provide New Information Just Received, Concealed by this District on Major Class-Action Suits Filed in Baltimore Against Navy Federal's Crimes on Illegal Repossessions and Federal Crimes" (Doc. 10), and (iii) "Plaintiffs Request for Status on Withheld, Delays of Nationwide, Relevant Civil Suit on Civil Rights Deprivations" (Doc. 11).

As an initial matter, it should be noted that throughout his various submissions, plaintiff alleges that the undersigned judge, as well as several other federal judges in this and other districts, (i) have engaged in "judicial corruption"and "judicial misconduct," (ii) have harbored "extreme prejudices" against plaintiff, and (iii) have prevented plaintiff's civil suits from being fairly heard. These allegations lack any factual support whatsoever and must be rejected as meritless.1 Nor is there any basis for recusal under 28 U.S.C. §§ 144 or 455.

Plaintiff next objects to the magistrate judge's recommendation that plaintiffs in forma pauperis application be denied. In this regard, the magistrate judge recommends denial of the application based on possible discrepancies between the financial information set forth in plaintiffs in forma pauperis application and other allegations contained in plaintiffs complaint. Yet, based solely on an examination of the financial affidavit, it appears that plaintiff likely qualifies for in forma pauperis status. Plaintiffs objections will thus be sustained insofar as they pertain to the magistrate judge's recommendation that plaintiffs in forma pauperis application be denied.

Yet, the remainder of plaintiffs prolix and largely indecipherable contentions concerning the merits of his claims are meritless and must be rejected. As the magistrate judge correctly observed in the Report and Recommendation, "[p]laintiff's complaint is a disjointed list of various federal and state civil and criminal statutes, the majority of which appear to have no relationship to the event at issue," and the complaint "is both legally and factually frivolous." Report and Recommendation at 8. The magistrate judge thus correctly concluded that plaintiffs complaint must be dismissed as frivolous pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1915(e)(2).2

Accordingly, for the foregoing reasons, and for good cause.

It is hereby ORDERED that with the exception of the in forma pauperis recommendation, the findings and conclusions set forth in the magistrate judge's Report and Recommendation are ADOPTED as the Court's findings and conclusions in this matter. Specifically, plaintiffs objections with respect to the magistrate judge's in forma pauperis recommendation are SUSTAINED and plaintiffs application to proceed in forma pauperis is GRANTED for purposes of this proceeding. The magistrate judge's Report and Recommendation is ADOPTED in all other respects and plaintiffs complaint is accordingly DISMISSED as frivolous pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2).

Should plaintiff wish to appeal this Order to the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, he must do so by filing a notice of appeal within thirty (30) days after entry of the Order, pursuant to Rules 3 and 4, Fed. R. App. P.

The Clerk is directed to send a copy of this Order to plaintiff and the magistrate judge and to place this matter among the ended causes.

FootNotes


1. It should also be noted that plaintiff has previously filed multiple judicial complaints against the undersigned judge with the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 351, all of which have been dismissed as meritless. See, e.g., Nos. 04-12-90026 through 04-12-90029 and 04-11-90011 through 04-11-90012, In the Matter of judicial Complaints Under 28 U.S.C. §351 (4th Cir.)
2. It should be noted that had the magistrate judge's recommendation regarding plaintiffs in forma pauperis application been adopted, a § 1915(e)(2) dismissal would not have been appropriate, as such a dismissal is only appropriate for cases in which a plaintiff has been granted authorization to proceed in forma pauperis.

Comment

1000 Characters Remaining

Leagle.com reserves the right to edit or remove comments but is under no obligation to do so, or to explain individual moderation decisions.

User Comments

Listed below are the cases that are cited in this Featured Case. Click the citation to see the full text of the cited case. Citations are also linked in the body of the Featured Case.

Cited Cases

  • No Cases Found

Listed below are those cases in which this Featured Case is cited. Click on the case name to see the full text of the citing case.

Citing Cases