Ayman Farraj v. David Cunningham

MEMORANDUM

Ayman Farraj, on behalf of himself and his two minor children, appeals from the district court’s dismissal of his case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and the court’s subsequent refusal to allow him to file an amended complaint.

Farraj and Edith Salas were divorced in 2010. During the divorce proceedings, the superior court judge (Judge David Cunningham) ordered Farraj to undergo psychological evaluations with family and marriage psychologist, Dr. Bruce Harshman. Dr. Harshman directed Farraj to seek additional evaluations from psychologists Dr. Carl Hoppe and Steven Shaps. In 2011,' Salas and Farraj entered into a stipulation that granted Salas sole custody of then-two children. In 2013, Judge Cunningham issued a move-away order that permitted Salas and the children to move to India with Salas’s fiancé, Nitin Thakor.

After the move-away order was issued, Farraj filed a complaint in federal court against all participants in the state court proceedings (Salas, Thakor, Judge Cunningham, Dr. Harshman, Dr. Hoppe, and Shaps). Farraj alleged three causes of action: (1) “Declaratory Relief—42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983—Fourteenth Amendment—denial of equal protection and due…