John Lukes et al v. Benjamin Bishoff et al
Opinion
Trial Court Opinion
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
JOHN LUKES et al, Case No. 5:25-cv-02918-SB-SP Plaintiffs, v. ORDER REMANDING CASE TO
STATE COURT
BENJAMIN BISHOFF et al, Defendants.
John Lukes, a self-represented litigant, filed a notice of removal asserting federal-question jurisdiction and listing 10 “related cases,” including state court cases in multiple counties and a bankruptcy case. He seeks damages and injunctive relief from 14 named defendants under numerous federal statutes, including the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the Crime Victim’s Rights Act (CVRA), and federal anti-stalking laws. The removal notice—a 58-page filing that sets forth allegations and seeks relief as though it were a complaint—is procedurally flawed and substantively unintelligible. More fundamentally, Lukes has not demonstrated that there is federal jurisdiction, requiring remand to state court. I. As an initial matter, the removal notice is procedurally flawed. The body of the removal notice does not identify the case it seeks to remove but instead references two state cases—a Riverside Superior Court case (involving an ongoing…