United States District Court, D. New Jersey
OPINION
HON.
KEVIN MCNULTYA, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
This
matter comes before the Court on the motion of the Bayonne
Police Department and the City of Bayonne under Federal Rule
of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) to dismiss the Complaint for
failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.
(ECF no. 12) The plaintiff, Steven Meleika, pro se,
sues the Bayonne Police Department, the City of Bayonne, and
the State of New Jersey for constitutional torts in
connection with his arrest and prosecution. The claims
against the State are dismissed on Eleventh
Amendment/sovereign immunity grounds, and the claims against
the Bayonne Police Department are dismissed because it is not
an independent entity, but merely a department of City
government. As to the remaining defendant, the City of
Bayonne, the motion to dismiss the Complaint is granted
without prejudice to the submission, within 45 days, of a
proposed amended complaint that remedies the defects of the
original.
I.
The Allegations of the Complaint
The
Complaint is brief, consisting of filled-in blanks on a
standard pro se complaint form. The underlying
factual allegations, in their entirety, are as follows:
On
4-23-15 I was arrested and charged with a criminal offense.
The case was dismissed entirely on 9-27-16, (Cplt. §
III.C)
The
fullest statement of the claims asserted reads as follows:
Violation of civil rights
False arrest
False imprisonment
Malic[ious] prosecution
14 Amendment
4 Amendment Punitive damages
(Cplt. § V)
I
interpret these as federal claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983
for violations of Mr. Meleika's Fourth Amendment rights
in connection with his arrest and prosecution. The Complaint
seeks $200, 000 in damages.
II.
The ...