WILLIAMS v. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA et al

1
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
JUAN T. WILLIAMS, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. ) Civil Action No. 26-1668 (UNA)
)
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND )
URBAN DEVELOPMENT, et al., )
)
Defendants. )
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter is before the Court on plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma pauperis and
his pro se complaint. The application will be granted, and the complaint will be dismissed
without prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
Plaintiff, who appears to reside in Morrow, Georgia, see Compl. at 1, considers it
“shameful and an embarrassment,” id. at 6, for “unhoused individuals to camp outside the Martin
Luther King library,” id., in the District of Columbia. He demands “reasonable accommodations
to the least housed individuals of this nation[.]” Id. at 4.
“Article III of the United States Constitution limits the judicial power to deciding ‘Cases
and Controversies.’” In re Navy Chaplaincy, 534 F.3d 756, 759 (D.C. Cir. 2008) (quoting U.S.
Const. art. III, § 2), cert. denied, 556 U.S. 1167 (2009). “One element of the case-or-controversy
requirement is that plaintiffs must establish that they have standing to sue.” Comm. on Judiciary
of U.S. House of Representatives v. McGahn, 968 F.3d 755, 762 (D.C. Cir. 2020) (citations and
internal quotation marks omitted). A party has standing for purposes of Article III if he has “(1)
suffered an injury in fact, (2) that is fairly traceable to the challenged conduct of the defendant,
Case 1:26-cv-01668-UNA Document 3 Filed 06/03/26 Page 1 of 2

2
and (3) that is likely to be redressed by a favorable judicial decision.” Id. at 763 (quoting Lujan
v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560 (1992)).
Missing from the complaint are any factual allegations establishing that plaintiff
sustained (or is likely to sustain) an injury resulting from any defendant’s action or inaction.
Because plaintiff fails to allege facts sufficient to establish standing, the Court lacks subject
matter jurisdiction.
Furthermore, because plaintiff does not appear to be an attorney licensed to practice here,
he cannot prosecute the claims other individuals in federal court. See 28 U.S.C. § 1654 (“In all
courts of the United States the parties may plead and conduct their own cases personally or by
counsel[.]”); accord Georgiades v. Martin-Trigona, 729 F.2d 831, 834 (D.C. Cir. 1984); U.S. ex
rel. Rockefeller v. Westinghouse Elec. Co., 274 F. Supp. 2d 10, 16 (D.D.C. 2003), aff’d sub nom.
Rockefeller ex rel. U.S. v. Washington TRU Solutions LLC, No. 03-7120, 2004 WL 180264 (D.C.
Cir. Jan. 21, 2004). Therefore, he may not represent the unhoused persons mentioned in the
complaint, and he fails to demonstrate that he has standing to pursue these claims on his own.
See Lujan, 504 U.S. at 560.
An Order is issued separately.
DATE: June 3, 2026 /s/
CHRISTOPHER R. COOPER
United States District Judge
Case 1:26-cv-01668-UNA Document 3 Filed 06/03/26 Page 2 of 2