United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division
THE INDIGENOUS AMERICAN PEOPLE INHABITING THE COUNTY OF WAYNE, MICHIGAN, Petitioner,
v.
WAYNE COUNTY MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, et al., Respondents.
Honorable Laurie J. Michelson Judge
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION TO DENY PETITIONER'S
MOTION FOR EX PARTE EMERGENCY TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER
SEEKING INJUNCTIVE RELIEF [2]
DAVID
R. GRAND UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Before
the Court is a Motion for Ex Parte Emergency
Temporary Restraining Order (“TRO”) Seeking
Injunctive Relief, filed by the plaintiff in this matter, The
Indigenous American People Inhabiting the County of Wayne,
Michigan (the “Plaintiffs”) on September 3, 2019.
(Doc. #2). This case has been referred to the undersigned for
management, hearing, and determination of all pretrial
matters pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A), and for
any reports and recommendations on dispositive matters that
may be necessary pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B).
(Doc. #7).
I.
REPORT
A.
Background
On
September 3, 2019, the Plaintiffs filed a
“Petition” in this case, seeking “redress
of grievances against Wayne County government elected
officers[.]” ECF No. 1, PageID.1. The Petition names as
Respondents Wayne County, Wayne County Executive Warren
Evans, former Wayne County Treasurer Raymond Wojtowicz,
current Wayne County Treasurer Eric Sabree, and current Wayne
County Clerk Cathy Garrett, accusing them of
“Dereliction of Duty, Fraud, Collusion, Unjust
Enrichment, Impersonation, Conspiracy, unlawful Civil Asset
Forfeiture and Abuse of Power[.]” ECF No. 1,
PageID.1-2.
Although
the Petition is extremely difficult to make sense of, the
Plaintiffs appear to allege that the transition from Former
Wayne County Treasurer Wojtowicz to Current Wayne County
Treasurer Sabree violated Michigan state law and, as a
result, the Plaintiffs were somehow prohibited “from
exercising their right to possession, to challenge and
possibly stop Wayne County Treasurer tax foreclosures and
sales and to reverse any decisions to the contrary.”
ECF No. 1, PageID.6. The Plaintiffs characterize
Respondents' actions as “Theft By False Pretense,
as it relates to the land and property of the Indigenous
peoples, disguised as a lawful foreclosure process through
illegal and unlawful evictions and auctions ….”
ECF No. 1, PageID.5. More specifically, the Plaintiffs claim
that Respondents “[w]rongfully deemed [their] land
abandoned so they could backdoor the Fee Simple Absolute that
[they] hold on [their] land” through the tax forfeiture
and foreclosure process provided for under Michigan state
law. ECF No. 1, PageID.7. In other words, the Plaintiffs
assert that “[t]here is no contract in Place between
any member of the Indigenous American Inhabitants of the
County of Wayne to allow for the County of Wayne to deem the
lands owned by ‘the People' abandoned” and,
therefore, to foreclose against such properties. ECF No. 1,
PageID.8.
At the
same time the Plaintiffs filed the Petition, they also filed
a “Motion for Ex Parte Emergency Temporary
Restraining Order Seeking Injunctive Relief.” ECF No.
2, PageID.65-131. In that motion, which is equally difficult
to comprehend, the Plaintiffs assert that:
It is imperative for this Court to grant Injunctive relief on
behalf of the Indigenous American people Inhabiting the
County of Wayne in that they have unveiled the corruption of
the County of Wayne's foreclosure process by and through
its employees to continue to cause harm and to perform
discriminative acts toward its inhabitants in violation of
the Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples, HR 489,
which states that Native People and descendants of Native
People along with descendants of ex-slaves are the only
peoples that are indigenous to this land called the United
States.
ECF No.
2, PageID.70. The Plaintiffs' motion for TRO, however,
contains nothing more than disjointed references to various
statutes, treatises, legal doctrines, and court decisions,
along with perplexing references to “The Land
Mandate.” ECF No. 2, PageID.6 -12. In conclusion, the
Plaintiffs state:
We request and demand from this Court an injunction for Wayne
County to cease and desist the auction scheduled for
September 4, 2019. If our request is not granted wrongdoers
will continue to deprive Indigenous people, the “The
Heirs to the Vast Estate, ” of their right to their
properties and land, they will continue to be disenfranchised
and the Rights of Indigenous People will continue to be
trampled upon. The sale must be halted.
ECF No.
2, PageID.12. Although apparently requesting a TRO halting
the foreclosure sale of a property, the Plaintiffs do not
provide any further detail about the address, owner, or legal
status of the property allegedly at issue.
B.
Applicable Legal Standards
“Temporary
restraining orders and preliminary injunctions are
extraordinary remedies designed to preserve the relative
positions of the parties until further proceedings on the
merits can be held.” Koetje v. Norton, No.
13-12739, 2013 WL 8475802, at *2 (E.D. Mich. Oct. 23, 2013).
Whether to grant such relief is a matter within the
discretion of the district court. See Certified
Restoration Dry Cleaning Network, L.L.C. v. Tenke Corp.,
511 F.3d 535, 540 (6th Cir. 2007). The same factors are
considered in determining whether to grant a request for a
TRO or a preliminary injunction. See Ohio Republican
Party v. Brunner, 543 F.3d 357, 361 (6th Cir. 2008).
Those factors are: (1) whether the movant has a strong
likelihood of success on the merits; (2) whether the movant
will suffer irreparable harm without the injunction; (3)
whether issuance of the injunction will cause substantial
harm to others; and (4) whether the public interest is served
by issuance of the injunction. Id. (citing Ne.
Ohio Coal. for the Homeless v. Blackwell, 467 F.3d 999,
1009 (6th ...