Demos v. Trump

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA 10 JOHN ROBERT DEMOS, JR., CASE NO. 3:25-CV-5249-BHS-DWC 11 Plaintiff, v. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION DONALD J. TRUMP, et al., Noting Date: April 22, 2025 Defendants.

15 Plaintiff John Demos, Jr., a state prisoner, has filed an application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”) and a proposed civil rights complaint. Dkts. 1; 1-1. As discussed below, the Court finds the proposed complaint should be dismissed without prejudice and the IFP application should be denied.

19 Plaintiff was convicted in 1978 of attempted rape and first-degree burglary and received an indeterminate sentence of 240 months to life in prison. See State v. Demos, 94 Wash. 2d 733, 734 (1980). Plaintiff is well-known locally and nationally as an abusive litigant. He is under pre- filing bar orders in a number of courts, including this Court, the Eastern District of Washington, the Washington State courts, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. See, e.g., Demos v. Storrie, 507 U.S. 290, 291 (1993) (per curiam). Bar orders of this Court provide that Plaintiff may submit only three IFP applications and proposed actions each year. See In re John Robert Demos, MC91-269-CRD (W.D. Wash. Jan. 16, 1992) [“1992 Bar Order”]; In re Complaints and Petitions Submitted by John Robert Demos (W.D. Wash. Dec. 15, 1982). The 1992 Bar Order further provides that this Court will not accept for filing a proposed complaint unless it “is accompanied by an affidavit that the claims have not been presented in any other action in any court and that [Plaintiff] can and will produce evidence to support his claims.” 1992 Bar Order at 3. Additionally, under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g), Plaintiff must demonstrate “imminent danger of serious physical injury” to proceed IFP because he has had numerous prior actions dismissed as frivolous, malicious, or for failure to state claim. See Demos v. Lehman, MC99-113-JLW (W.D. Wash. Aug. 23, 1999).

12 Plaintiff may not proceed with this action. In the proposed complaint, Plaintiff alleges claims against Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, John G. Roberts, the U.S. Speaker of the House, the U.S. Senate Majority Leader, the U.S. Solicitor General, the Governor of the State of Washington, the Washington State Attorney General, the Washington State Speaker of the House, the Washington State Senate Majority Leaders, and the Washington State Supreme Court Chief Justice. Dkt. 1-1 at 2-3, 9. Plaintiff appears to challenge the use of informations in place of indictments in criminal proceedings. See id. at 11. Plaintiff’s proposed complaint does not contain “a plausible allegation that [he] faced imminent danger of serious physical injury at the time of filing.” Andrews v. Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047 (9th Cir. 2007) (internal citations omitted).

21 It also is patently frivolous.

22 Accordingly, the undersigned recommends Plaintiff’s proposed complaint (Dkt. 1-1) be dismissed, the IFP application be denied as moot (Dkt. 1), and this case be closed.

1 Objections to this Report and Recommendation, if any, should be filed with the Clerk and served upon all parties to this suit not later than fourteen (14) days from the date on which this Report and Recommendation is signed. Failure to file objections within the specified time may affect your right to appeal. Objections should be noted for consideration on the District Judge’s motions calendar fourteen (14) days from the date they are filed. Responses to objections may be filed by the day before the noting date. If no timely objections are filed, the matter will be ready for consideration by the District Judge on April 22, 2025.

8 Dated this 1st day of April, 2025.

A David W. Christel United States Magistrate Judge