Pennsylvania resident Dylan Stephen Jayne saw his bizarre $5
billion “crimes against humanity” lawsuit against Google shot down a second
time, this time by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Jayne filed
suit against Google last September, seeking $5 billion in damages over
claims that Google’s founders committed aided terrorists and violated his
privacy – due to the fact that part of Jayne’s Social Security number is somehow
visible when the Google logo is turned upside down. His complaint was
submitted, handwritten, to a Pennsylvania Middle District court along with
motions to expedite nearly every step of his case – including motions to
expedite payment, filing exhibits, and even a motion to expedite previously
filed motions to expedite.
Pennsylvania District Judge James Munley dismissed Jayne’s
suit sua sponte (on its own) nine days
after it was filed, on the grounds that Jayne failed to make any actionable
claims.
A month later, Jayne sought to appeal – again submitting a
handwritten Motion to Appeal, taking the case to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
The Appeals court chose to uphold the lower court’s decision, noting that Jayne’s
claims – which invoked an obscure law that applied to state actors, to which Google
does not apply – failed to demonstrate any instance of Google depriving him of
Constitutionally-protected rights while the company acted “under color of state
law.”
“It is clear that [none of the] criteria is satisfied here,”
said the Appeals Court judge. “As explained by the District Court, Google and
its founders are not state actors, and Jayne’s allegation concerning his coded
social security number does not constitute a violation of the Constitution or
federal law.”
Further, the court agreed that “any amendment of the
complaint would be futile.”
SearchEngineWatch.com called the case – and Google’s
resultant win – the hopeful end of the “most bizarre lawsuit ever filed.” Jayne
has not, as of yet, attempted to appeal the case any further.
Jayne, who is currently serving time at the Pike County
Correctional Facility in Lords Valley, Pennsylvania, targeted more than just
Google in his complaint: a submitted
list (PDF) of exhibits seems to indicate that the Philadelphia 76ers play
some role in decoding Jayne’s Social Security number as well, although the
actual SSN is censored out.