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Nature of Suit Code: 422
Nature of Suit: Bankruptcy Appeals Rule 28 USC 158
Cause of Action: 

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United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 09-3863

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In re: Mesaba Aviation, Inc. *

*

Debtor, *

*

------------------------------------- *

*

Coleen L. Powers, *

*

Appellant, *

* Appeal from the United States

v. * Bankruptcy Appellate Panel

* for the Eighth Circuit.

Odyssey Capital Group, LLC, *

* [UNPUBLISHED]

Appellee. *

___________

Submitted: July 23, 2010

Filed: July 28, 2010 

___________

Before WOLLMAN, MELLOY, and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

Coleen L. Powers appeals the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel’s (BAP’s) orders

denying her leave to appeal in forma pauperis (IFP), denying appointed counsel and

Appellate Case: 09-3863 Page: 1 Date Filed: 07/28/2010 Entry ID: 3687643
oral argument, affirming bankruptcy court1

 orders closing the bankruptcy case of

Mesaba Aviation, Inc. (Mesaba), and denying Powers’s motion to seal the affidavit

she attached to her request to proceed IFP. She also appeals the denial of her various

motions for reconsideration of the foregoing orders. For the following reasons, we

conclude that Powers cannot raise many of the challenges she seeks to raise; as to

those properly raised, we affirm. We also deny Powers’s motion to strike appellee’s

brief and appendix. 

In 2009 we affirmed the dismissal of Powers’s appeal, as untimely, from an

order disallowing her sole claim in Mesaba’s bankruptcy; we also affirmed the BAP’s

dismissal, for lack of standing, of her appeal from fee orders in the same bankruptcy. 

See Powers v. Mesaba Aviation, Inc., 328 Fed. Appx. 344, 344-45 (8th Cir. 2009)

(unpublished per curiam). Accordingly, Powers cannot now challenge the order

disallowing her bankruptcy claim. See Gander Mountain Co. v. Cabela’s, Inc., 540

F.3d 827, 830 (8th Cir. 2008) (discussing law-of-the-case doctrine). 

Given that her sole bankruptcy claim was disallowed, Powers lacks standing to

challenge the orders closing the bankruptcy case and denying her challenges to that

order, and likewise, she lacks standing to challenge the BAP’s disposition of her

related appeals. See Steger v. Franco, Inc., 228 F.3d 889, 892 (8th Cir. 2000)

(discussing Article III standing and requirement of injury in fact). Further, we will

not review the orders denying her IFP status on appeal because the BAP later granted

her IFP status. See In re Sec. Life Ins. Co. of Am., 228 F.3d 865, 870 (8th Cir. 2000)

(mootness). 

We affirm the orders denying Powers’s attempts to seal her IFP affidavit. She

failed to establish that the information in the affidavit met the requirements for

1

The Honorable Gregory F. Kishel, United States Bankruptcy Judge for the

District of Minnesota. 

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obtaining an order to seal under Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9018; the

affidavit did not contain any of the information that Federal Rule of Bankruptcy

Procedure 9037 allows her to redact (nor did she seek to redact any information); and

we fail to see how failure to seal the information violated her right to privacy under

the Fourth Amendment or any of the other statutes she lists. Finally, Powers did not

suffer a due process violation merely because no hearing was held before the

bankruptcy court issued its order finally disposing of Powers’s numerous motions to

reconsider and “renewed” motions; and the BAP did not err in denying counsel or oral

argument. 

Accordingly, we deny Powers’s motion to strike appellee’s brief and appendix,

and we affirm the orders denying her motions to seal her IFP affidavit, and for oral

argument and appointed counsel.

______________________________

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Appellate Case: 09-3863 Page: 3 Date Filed: 07/28/2010 Entry ID: 3687643