CHARLESTON – A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against a municipal judge and 30 other defendants a man alleged discriminated against him over the course several lawsuits filed in 2014 and 2015.
District Judge John Copenhaver dismissed the lawsuit, stating that he agreed with U.S. Magistrate Judge Dwane L. Tinsley’s proposed findings and recommendation that he had submitted the month before.
“The magistrate judge recommends that the court dismiss the plaintiff’s complaint … for failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted and as otherwise set out in the PF&R,” Copenhaver wrote. “The plaintiff, proceeding pro se, has not filed objections to the PF&R.”
In his proposed findings and recommendation, Tinsley said the current complaint was one of eight filed since August 2014, all of which Carl C. Foster has made repeated attempts to “appeal” or seek collateral review of unfavorable decisions rendered in numerous lawsuits he has filed in Kanawha Circuit Court.
“The instant complaint, which is cumbersome and difficult to interpret, names 31 defendants, including all of the circuit judges of Kanawha County, Municipal Judge Ann Charnock and numerous other individuals or entities that were parties to his prior complaints filed in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County or with the West Virginia Human Rights Commission,” Tinsley wrote.
Tinsley recommended dismissal for failure to state a claim, calling it a frivolous lawsuit.
There were actually 13 lawsuits filed by Foster between July 22, 2014, and Jan. 12, 2015, according to court documents, before Circuit Judge James C. Stucky filed an administrative order permanently enjoining Foster from filing civil actions in Kanawha Circuit Court without first obtaining leave from the court.
In his complaint, Foster alleged that the defendants violated his 1st, 5th, and 6th Amendments; denied him equal access; neglected their duties; conducted a witch hunt; violated RICO law; colluded with one another; discriminated against him; and libeled him.
“Beyond the conclusory allegations … the complaint does not specify any particular facts to support these ‘unlawful violations,’” Tinsley wrote.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number: 2:14-cv-24232