Silver v. County of Los Angeles
── Silver v. County of Los Angeles ──
Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Date: April 23, 2026
Category: General
NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS APR 23 2026
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
CHRISTIAN SILVER, an individual, No. 24-6852
D.C. No.
Plaintiff - Appellant, 2:24-cv-00964-MRA-SSC
v.
MEMORANDUM*
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES; KEITH
KNOX, Los Angeles County Treasurer and
Tax Collector; OSCAR VALDEZ, Los
Angeles County Auditor-Controller; FESIA
DAVENPORT, Los Angeles County Chief
Executive Officer; HILDA SOLIS, 1st
District Board of Supervisors County of Los
Angeles; HOLLY MITCHELL, 2nd District
of Board of Supervisors County of Los
Angeles; JEFFREY PRANG, Los Angeles
County Tax Assessor; LINDSEY P.
HORVATH, Chair 3rd District Board of
Supervisors County of Los Angeles;
JANICE HAHN, 4th District Board of
Supervisors County of Los Angeles;
KATHRYN BARGER, 5th District Board
of Supervisors County Los Angeles; LOS
ANGELES COUNTY BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS; SELECT PORTFOLIO
SERVICING, INC.; CHASE HOME
FINANCE, LLC,
Defendants - Appellees.
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
Monica Ramirez Almadani, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted April 22, 2026**
Before: LEE, DESAI, and JOHNSTONE, Circuit Judges.
Christian Silver appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment dismissing
his action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state law challenging Los Angeles County
property tax collection. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review
de novo. Jerron W., Inc. v. State of Cal., State Bd. of Equalization, 129 F.3d 1334,
1337 (9th Cir. 1997), as amended (Jan. 29, 1998) (dismissal for lack of subject
matter jurisdiction); Milkovich v. United States, 28 F.4th 1, 6 (9th Cir. 2022)
(dismissal for failure to state a claim). We affirm.
The district court properly dismissed Silver’s constitutional claims because
“taxpayers are barred by the principle of comity from asserting § 1983 actions
against the validity of state tax systems” where, as here, state “remedies are plain,
adequate, and complete.” Fair Assessment in Real Est. Ass’n, Inc. v. McNary, 454
U.S. 100, 116 (1981); see also Azul-Pacifico, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles, 973 F.2d
704, 705 (9th Cir. 1992) (order) (holding that there is no cause of action directly
under the United States Constitution for a takings claim).
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
2 24-6852
The district court properly dismissed Silver’s civil RICO and state law
claims because Silver failed to allege facts sufficient to state a plausible claim. See
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (“To survive a motion to dismiss, a
complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim
to relief that is plausible on its face.” (citation and internal quotation marks
omitted)); Sedima, S.P.R.L. v. Imrex Co., Inc., 473 U.S. 479, 496 (1985) (setting
forth requirements of a civil RICO claim); Lee v. Hanley, 354 P.3d 334, 344 (Cal.
2015) (setting forth requirements of a conversion claim under California law);
Flatley v. Mauro, 139 P.3d 2, 19 (Cal. 2006) (setting forth requirements of an
extortion claim under California law).
The district court did not abuse its discretion
{# E23 (Nick, ruling section 1 answer 10): quoting a bill or a court opinion works
the way quoting a news article works. Select a passage above and the same panel
opens: the passage goes to the official you choose, with this document's own
address as its source and its own type. #}