MALLGREN v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA et al

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
ANTHONY BRIAN MALLGREN, )
)
Plaintiff, )
v. ) Civil Action No. 26-1717 (UNA)
)
)
UNITED STATES, et al., )
)
Defendants. )
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter is before the Court on the plaintiff’s application to proceed in forma pauperis,
ECF No. 2, and pro se complaint, ECF No. 1. The Court grants the application and dismisses the
complaint.
“A complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to
relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl.
Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). A complaint that lacks “an arguable basis either in
law or in fact” is frivolous, Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325 (1989), and the Court cannot
exercise subject matter jurisdiction over a frivolous complaint, Hagans v. Lavine, 415 U.S. 528,
536-37 (1974) (“Over the years, this Court has repeatedly held that the federal courts are without
power to entertain claims otherwise within their jurisdiction if they are ‘so attenuated and
unsubstantial as to be absolutely devoid of merit.’”) (quoting Newburyport Water Co. v.
Newburyport, 193 U.S. 561, 579 (1904)); Tooley v. Napolitano, 586 F.3d 1006, 1010 (D.C. Cir.
2009). Consequently, the Court is obligated to dismiss a complaint as frivolous when, as here,
“the facts alleged rise to the level of the irrational or the wholly incredible,” Denton v. Hernandez,
504 U.S. 25, 33 (1992), or “postulat[e] events and circumstances of a wholly fanciful kind,” Crisafi
v. Holland, 655 F.2d 1305, 1307-08 (D.C. Cir. 1981).
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The complaint’s few factual allegations are unintelligible, and to the extent they can be
understood, the Court deems them irrational and incredible, rendering the complaint frivolous.
And the Court cannot exercise jurisdiction of a frivolous complaint. An Order will be issued
separately.
DATE: June 1, 2026 /s/
CHRISTOPHER R. COOPER
United States District Judge
Case 1:26-cv-01717-UNA Document 3 Filed 06/01/26 Page 2 of 2