Downey v. United States

7018 2290 0000 5183 8969 The Court's jurisdiction is established by the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1491(a)(l), which provides: The United States Comi of Federal Claims shall have jurisdiction to render judgment upon any claim against the United States founded either upon the Constitution, or any Act of Congress or any regulation of an executive depmiment, or upon any express or implied contract with the United States, or for liquidated or unliquidated damages in cases not sounding in tort. The Supreme Comi has interpreted the Tucker Act to waive sovereign immunity to allow jurisdiction to entertain a claim against the Unites States if the Claim is (1) founded on an express or implied contract with the United States; (2) seeking a refund of a payment previously made to the United States; or (3) based on federal constitutional, statutory, or regulatory law mandating compensation for damages sustained,except from a t01i. See United States v. Navajo Nation, 556 U.S. 287, 289-90 (2009). "Not every claim invoking the Constitution, a federal statute, or a regulation is cognizable under the Tucker Act. The claim must be one for money dmnages against the United States." United States v. Mitchell, 463 U.S. 206,216 (1983). To invoke this Comi's jurisdiction,a plaintiff must rely on a statute or regulation that is money­ mandating, which means the source of alleged liability "can fairly be interpreted as mandating compensation by the Federal Government." United States v. Testan, 424 U.S. 392,400 (1976). The plaintiff is proceedingpro se, and his pleadings are entitled to receive a more liberal construction than the Comi would give to pleadings prepm·ed by counsel. See Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519 (1972). Giving a prose litigant's pleadings a liberal construction, however, does not divest a pro se plaintiff from the responsibility of having to satisfy the jurisdictional requirements limiting this Court's jurisdiction. See Kelly v. Sec'y, U.S. Dep '/ of Labor, 812 F.2d 1378, 1380 (Fed. Cir. 1987); Hale v. United States, 143 Fed. Cl. 180, 184 (2019). The starting point for determining whether this Court has jurisdiction is the plaintiffs Complaint, which the Comi will construe liberally. The plaintiff provides at the start of the Complaint a summary: "This Claim has two main elements - enforcement of criminal charges and punitive monetary dmnages based upon [United States Code] Code Violations and supporting and relevant [United States Code] Code Violations and the Constitution Violations." (Comp!. at 2). The Complaint totals 50 pages and includes 4 7 separate claims. Based on a careful review of the Complaint, it appears that the plaintiff, who refers to himself as disabled, has consistently filed whistleblower complaints with federal agencies, but the agencies have not pursued his allegations. The substance of those allegations is not clear from the Complaint, but, based on some of the claims in the Complaint, may involve allegations of discrimination against the disabled or cost-overruns on government contracts. The 47 claims can be broadly grouped among the following categories: 1) the failure of federal agencies to act on the plaintiffs whistleblower complaints; 2) injuries to the plaintiff from that general failure to act; 3) violations of federal criminal and tort laws due to those failures; 4) violations of the plaintiffs civil and constitutional rights; 5) Freedom oflnformation 2