UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FILED
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA NOV 1 6 2010
Clerk, U.S. District & Bankruptcy
ANTONIO COLBERT, Courts for the District of Columbia
Plaintiff,
1 Civil Action No.
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION )
OF THE NATION'S CAPITAL,
Defendant. )
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter is before the Court upon consideration of plaintiffs application to proceed in
forma pauperis and his pro se complaint. The application will be granted, and the complaint
will be dismissed.
Plaintiff alleges that the ACLU's "fraudualence [sic] has misrepresented [him] and
wasted a great deal of [his] time." Compl. at 2. He demands damages of $500,000. Id.
The Court has reviewed plaintiffs complaint, keeping in mind that complaints filed by
pro se litigants are held to less stringent standards than those applied to formal pleadings drafted
by lawyers. See Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 5 19,520 (1972). Even pro se litigants, however,
must comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Jarrell v. Tisch,656 F. Supp. 237,239
(D.D.C. 1987). Rule 8(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires that a complaint
contain a short and plain statement of the grounds upon which the court's jurisdiction depends, a
short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief, and a demand
for judgment for the relief the pleader seeks. Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). The purpose of the minimum
standard of Rule 8 is to give fair notice to the defendants of the claim being asserted, sufficient to
prepare a responsive answer, to prepare an adequate defense and to determine whether the
Colbert v. American Civil Liberties Union of the Nations Capitol
Combined Opinion