Case ID: f-appx_79/html/0066-02.html
Source: Caselaw Access Project
Author: {"author": "PER CURIAM:\n    ", "license": "Public Domain", "url": "https://static.case.law/"}
Date Created: 2024-08-24T03:29:51.129683

Theron BELTON, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Cleveland TURNER, also known as Turner, Escort Officer; J.D. Butcher; James Zeller, Warden; Larry Doyle; Wilkerson, Property Officer; Boyd, Property Officer; Coleman, Grievance Officer; Stoker, Grievance Officer, Defendants-Appellees.
    No. 03-20415
    Summary Calendar.
    United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.
    Oct. 22, 2003.
    
      Theron Belton, pro se, Midway, TX, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
    Amber Lea Adams, Office of the Attorney General for the State of Texas, Austin, TX, for Defendants-Appellees.
    Before SMITH, DEMOSS, and STEWART, Circuit Judges.
   PER CURIAM:

Theron Belton, Texas prisoner # 845198, appeals from a judgment rendered in favor of the defendants on his civil rights claim. We affirm.

To prevail on a claim that his right of access to the courts has been violated, a prisoner must demonstrate prejudice by showing that his ability to pursue a “non-frivolous,” “arguable” legal claim was hindered by the defendants’ actions. See Christopher v. Harbury, 536 U.S. 403, 415, 122 S.Ct. 2179, 153 L.Ed.2d 413 (2002) (internal quotations omitted); Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343, 351, 116 S.Ct. 2174, 135 L.Ed.2d 606 (1996). Belton has not demonstrated that the claims he would have raised in his petition for discretionary review were arguable or nonfrivolous; he therefore cannot prove a constitutional violation. Because he cannot prove a constitutional violation, judgment was appropriately awarded in favor of the defendants, and it was unnecessary for the district court to reach the exhaustion issue.

AFFIRMED. 
      
       Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir. R. 47.5.4.