throbber
Case: 22-1968 Document: 9 Page: 1 Filed: 08/31/2022
`
`NOTE: This order is nonprecedential.
`
`United States Court of Appeals
`for the Federal Circuit
`______________________
`
`DAVID LEE SMITH, individually and in his capac-
`ity as Legal Representative of The Estate of Mary
`Julia Hook,
`Plaintiff-Appellant
`
`v.
`
`UNITED STATES,
`Defendant-Appellee
`______________________
`
`2022-1968
`______________________
`
`Appeal from the United States Court of Federal Claims
`in No. 1:22-cv-00052-AOB, Judge Armando O. Bonilla.
`______________________
`
`ON MOTION
`______________________
`
`PER CURIAM.
`
`O R D E R
` David Lee Smith moves for leave to proceed in forma
`pauperis. After consideration of the complaint, the judg-
`ment of the United States Court of Federal Claims, and Mr.
`Smith’s opening brief, we dismiss the appeal.
`
`
`
`
`
`

`

`Case: 22-1968 Document: 9 Page: 2 Filed: 08/31/2022
`
`2
`
`
`
`SMITH v. US
`
`In 2019, the United States District Court for the Dis-
`
`trict of Colorado entered an order of foreclosure and judi-
`cial sale of Mr. Smith’s home. After unsuccessfully
`exhausting his appeals in that matter, Mr. Smith filed this
`suit on his own behalf and as the representative of his de-
`ceased wife’s estate at the Court of Federal Claims assert-
`ing an unlawful judicial taking of property in violation of
`the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The com-
`plaint alleged that the district court failed to comply with
`all necessary procedures, including failing to set off
`amounts owed, failing to determine the proper amount of
`federal taxes owed, and failing to distribute tax exemp-
`tions. The Court of Federal Claims granted Mr. Smith’s
`motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis and dis-
`missed for lack of jurisdiction, certifying under 28 U.S.C.
`§ 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good
`faith. Mr. Smith now appeals, seeking in his brief for this
`court to “declare the judgments and orders of . . . the Dis-
`trict of Colorado and . . . the Tenth Circuit void . . . because
`of the jurisdictional defects and due process violations in
`those courts.” ECF No. 5-1 at 3.
`Given Mr. Smith’s motion and the § 1915(a)(3) certifi-
`cation, it is appropriate to assess whether Mr. Smith’s ap-
`peal complies with 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i), which
`provides “the court shall dismiss . . . if the court deter-
`mines that . . . the action or appeal . . . is frivolous.” It is
`well settled that the Court of Federal Claims “cannot en-
`tertain a taking[s] claim that requires the court to ‘scruti-
`nize the actions of’ another tribunal.’” Innovair Aviation
`Ltd. v. United States, 632 F.3d 1336, 1342 (Fed. Cir. 2011)
`(citation omitted, alteration in the original); Petro-Hunt,
`L.L.C. v. United States, 862 F.3d 1370, 1385 (Fed. Cir.
`2017); Shinnecock Indian Nation v. United States, 782 F.3d
`1345, 1353 (Fed. Cir. 2015). Mr. Smith has raised no co-
`gent, non-frivolous argument on appeal for why the Court
`of Federal Claims would have jurisdiction over his com-
`plaint that, at bottom, challenges the district court’s
`
`

`

`Case: 22-1968 Document: 9 Page: 3 Filed: 08/31/2022
`
`SMITH v. US
`
` 3
`
`rulings in his foreclosure case through collateral proceed-
`ings. We therefore dismiss this appeal as frivolous.
`
`Accordingly,
`
`IT IS ORDERED THAT:
`
`(1) The motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis
`is denied.
`
`(2) The appeal is dismissed.
`
`(3) Each side shall bear its own costs.
`
`FOR THE COURT
`
`
` August 31, 2022
`/s/ Peter R. Marksteiner
` Date
`Peter R. Marksteiner
`Clerk of Court
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`

This document is available on Docket Alarm but you must sign up to view it.


Or .

Accessing this document will incur an additional charge of $.

After purchase, you can access this document again without charge.

Accept $ Charge
throbber

Still Working On It

This document is taking longer than usual to download. This can happen if we need to contact the court directly to obtain the document and their servers are running slowly.

Give it another minute or two to complete, and then try the refresh button.

throbber

A few More Minutes ... Still Working

It can take up to 5 minutes for us to download a document if the court servers are running slowly.

Thank you for your continued patience.

This document could not be displayed.

We could not find this document within its docket. Please go back to the docket page and check the link. If that does not work, go back to the docket and refresh it to pull the newest information.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

You need a Paid Account to view this document. Click here to change your account type.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

Set your membership status to view this document.

With a Docket Alarm membership, you'll get a whole lot more, including:

  • Up-to-date information for this case.
  • Email alerts whenever there is an update.
  • Full text search for other cases.
  • Get email alerts whenever a new case matches your search.

Become a Member

One Moment Please

The filing “” is large (MB) and is being downloaded.

Please refresh this page in a few minutes to see if the filing has been downloaded. The filing will also be emailed to you when the download completes.

Your document is on its way!

If you do not receive the document in five minutes, contact support at support@docketalarm.com.

Sealed Document

We are unable to display this document, it may be under a court ordered seal.

If you have proper credentials to access the file, you may proceed directly to the court's system using your government issued username and password.


Access Government Site

We are redirecting you
to a mobile optimized page.





Document Unreadable or Corrupt

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket

We are unable to display this document.

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket