Michael Townes v. USA

── Michael Townes v. USA ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: June 05, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 26-10050 Document: 15-1 Date Filed: 06/05/2026 Page: 1 of 8 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 26-10050 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________ MICHAEL TOWNES, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (DOJ), FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI), DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (DHS), TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (TSA), et al., Defendants-Appellees. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia D.C. Docket No. 1:25-cv-06792-ELR ____________________ Before NEWSOM, GRANT, and BRASHER, Circuit Judges. USCA11 Case: 26-10050 Document: 15-1 Date Filed: 06/05/2026 Page: 2 of 8 2 Opinion of the Court 26-10050 PER CURIAM: Michael Townes appeals the dismissal of his complaint against the United States of America and various federal agencies as frivolous under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). We affirm. I. Townes filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive re- lief against the United States of America, the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, the Transportation Security Administration, and the Fed- eral Bureau of Prisons. Although the factual allegations in his com- plaint were not clear, he appeared to contend that FBI investigators and federal prosecutors unconstitutionally targeted him for surveil- lance and prosecution based on his race and poverty, among other factors, and misclassified him as violent and a fugitive from justice. He alleged that this discriminatory targeting led to his arrest, extra- dition from Georgia to Virginia, and prosecution and conviction for communicating an interstate threat in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), despite a lack of evidence that he had the subjective intent to threaten necessary to prove his guilt. He also alleged that the district court improperly applied a sentence enhancement for “school disruption” based on “unverified claims that Charlotteville schools entered lockdown” because of his online post. And he con- tended that the unconstitutional prosecution, conviction, and sen- tence enhancement resulted in an unwarranted threat classification and collateral consequences that continued after his release from prison, including the denial of his applications for employment and USCA11 Case: 26-10050 Document: 15-1 Date Filed: 06/05/2026 Page: 3 of 8 26-10050 Opinion of the Court 3 housing, TSA “watchlisting” and secondary screening, and reputa- tional harm. Townes affirmatively denied seeking to vacate his federal conviction, and he noted that he had completed his sentence of im- prisonment. He sought a declaration that his prosecution, convic- tion, and sentence enhancement were unconstitutional, and in- junctive relief from the ongoing consequences of the conviction and sentence, including his continued threat classification. The district court permitted Townes to initiate his lawsuit without paying t