UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FILED
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA OCT - Ii 2010
Clerk Us D'
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Kareemah Bell, ) IC of COlumbia
)
Plaintiff, )
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v. ) Civil Action No. 10 1710
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Metropolitan Police/Hope Shelter, )
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Defendants. )
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter is before the Court on plaintiff's pro se complaint and application to proceed
in forma pauperis. The Court will grant plaintiff's application and dismiss the complaint for lack
of subject matter jurisdiction.
The subject matter jurisdiction of the federal district courts is limited and is set forth
generally at 28 U.S.c. §§ 1331 and 1332. Under those statutes, federal jurisdiction is available
only when a "federal question" is presented or the parties are of diverse citizenship and the
amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. A party seeking relief in the district court must at least
plead facts that bring the suit within the court's jurisdiction. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a). Failure to
plead such facts warrants dismissal of the action. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3).
Plaintiff, who lists her mailing address as a Landover Hills, Maryland, residence, sues
presumably the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department and D.C.-based Hope
Shelter for an alleged assault by a homeless woman at the shelter. The complaint neither
presents a federal question nor provides a basis for diversity jurisdiction because no amount in
controversy is pleaded. A separate Order of dismissal accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.
~/L.SN~
Date: _ _--'---+-'-"-'u-=-_, 2010 United States District Judge