Selck sued the California Department of Social Services, California Board of Registered Nursing, and Curam College in October 2025, but his first amended complaint was riddled with what Judge Delaney called "conclusory and fantastical allegations" that failed to connect any claims to specific defendants. The pro se plaintiff sought unspecified relief in what the court described as an "illegible" filing that didn't give defendants fair notice of his claims.
Judge Delaney found Selck's lawsuit barred by Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity since both state agencies are entitled to constitutional protection from federal court suits. "Both CDSS and BRN are state agencies entitled to sovereign immunity," Delaney wrote, noting that neither California nor Congress had waived that immunity. Even without the immunity bar, she said the complaint "fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted."
The magistrate judge's recommendations came after California's social services department and nursing board moved to dismiss Selck's complaint and declare him a vexatious litigant. From 2018 to 2023, Selck filed ten civil actions and one habeas petition in the Eastern District of California, with none surviving past the pleading stage due to jurisdictional problems or failure to state valid claims.
Judge Delaney recommended a narrowly tailored pre-filing order requiring Selck to obtain court permission before filing future lawsuits in the Eastern District, with a requirement to show "colorable, nonduplicative claims." The recommendations will go to the assigned district judge, and parties have 14 days to file objections before the court issues a final order closing the case.