DLD-299 NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
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No. 13-2782
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IN RE: RAVANNA S. BEY,
Petitioner
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On a Petition for Writ of Mandamus
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Submitted Pursuant to Rule 21, Fed. R. App. P.
June 27, 2013
Before: AMBRO, SMITH and CHAGARES, Circuit Judges
(Opinion filed: July 23, 2013)
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OPINION
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PER CURIAM
Ravanna Stephens Bey, Jr., proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, petitions for
a writ of mandamus compelling the Superior Court of New Jersey for Atlantic County to
dismiss its ongoing criminal proceeding against Bey for lack of jurisdiction. 1
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Bey has been indicted for third degree forgery, uttering a forged instrument, and third
degree theft by deception stemming from an episode where Bey allegedly cashed a check
on which the name of the intended payee was altered. In his petition, Bey asserts that the
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Mandamus is a drastic remedy available in only the most extraordinary
circumstances. In re Diet Drugs Prods. Liab. Litig., 418 F.3d 372, 378 (3d Cir. 2005).
“A petitioner seeking the issuance of a writ of mandamus must have no other adequate
means to obtain the desired relief, and must show that the right to issuance is clear and
indisputable.” Madden v. Myers, 102 F.3d 74, 79 (3d Cir. 1996).
In this matter, Bey has not shown that he has a clear and indisputable right to have
this Court compel the Superior Court of New Jersey to dismiss his criminal proceeding.
See id. Further, mandamus typically may be “used to confine an inferior court to a lawful
exercise of its prescribed jurisdiction or to compel it to exercise its authority when it is its
duty to do so.” In re Diet Drugs, 418 F.3d at 378 (internal quotation marks omitted). The
Superior Court of New Jersey is not an “inferior court” of this Court, and, except in
limited circumstances, federal courts do not have the power to compel state courts to act
in a particular way. See Atl. Coast Line R.R. Co. v. Bhd. of Locomotive Eng’rs, 398
U.S. 281, 286 (1970); Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 45 (1971); In re Grand Jury
Proceedings, 654 F.2d 268, 278-79 (3d Cir. 1981). Accordingly, we deny Bey’s petition
for a writ of mandamus compelling the Superior Court of New Jersey to dismiss the
criminal proceedings against him.
Superior Court of New Jersey does not have jurisdiction over him, as he is a “Moorish
American” citizen, and is not subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States
per the laws of the Moorish American National Republic, the Thirteenth Amendment of
the United States Constitution, and the Emancipation Proclamation. The Superior Court
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of New Jersey has rejected this argument.
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