UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

DEVEREUX FOUNDATION,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

THE BALTIMORE BAIS DIN, a/k/a

Rabbi Mordecai Schuchatowitz,

Rabbinical Judge,

Party in Interest-Appellant,

BERTRAND G. FINK; LOUISE FINK;

No. 97-1992

DAVID A. GREENBERG; PATRICIA

GREENBERG; JONAH GREENFIELD;

CHERYL L. GREENFIELD; STANLEY

LABOVITZ; RANESSA LABOVITZ; JACK

ROSENBLOOM; PAUL WALTER;

MARILYN W. WALTER; RAY

WEINSTEIN; ADEAN ZAPINSKY;

JUDITH CJ ZAPINSKY,

Defendants.

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore.

Benson E. Legg, District Judge.

(CA-95-2977-L)

Submitted: September 29, 1998

Decided: October 30, 1998

Before WILKINS and NIEMEYER, Circuit Judges, and

BUTZNER, Senior Circuit Judge.

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Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
COUNSEL

Baltimore Bais Din, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellant. James F.

Rosner, David Kevin Gildea, WHITEFORD, TAYLOR & PRESTON, Towson, Maryland, for Appellee.

_________________________________________________________________

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See

Local Rule 36(c).

_________________________________________________________________

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Irvin and Miriam Fischer leased a home in Baltimore to the Devereux Foundation (the Foundation) for use as a therapeutic group home

for children with mental and emotional disabilities. A group of neighborhood homeowners, including Bertrand Fink, objected to the

intended use of the property. They took their concerns to a rabbinical

court, or Bais Din, which found for the Fischers, and then to the Circuit Court of the City of Baltimore, which determined that enforcement of restrictive covenants on the property would violate federal

fair housing laws.

The Foundation then filed this action against Fink and other neighbors, claiming that their various actions violated the Fair Housing

Act. As part of discovery, the Foundation sought the deposition of

Rabbi Mordecai Schuchatowitz, one of three rabbis who presided at

the Bais Din, as well as various documents pertaining to that proceeding. The district court granted the motion to compel the deposition of

the rabbi and the production of all documents pertaining to the rabbinical court proceeding.

Rabbi Schuchatowitz, on behalf of the Baltimore Bais Din, seeks

to appeal the district court's order. We dismiss the appeal for lack of

jurisdiction. This court may exercise jurisdiction only over final

orders, see 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (1994), and certain interlocutory and

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collateral orders, see 28 U.S.C. § 1292 (1994); Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b);

Cohen v. Beneficial Indus. Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541 (1949). The

order at issue here does not fall within the narrow exception of

Cohen. See MDK, Inc. v. Mike's Train House, Inc., 27 F.3d 116, 121-

22 (4th Cir. 1994) (appellate courts lack jurisdiction to review orders

compelling discovery of nonparties; to obtain review of discovery

order, nonparty must refuse to comply with order, be held in contempt, and appeal the contempt order).

We therefore dismiss the appeal. We dispense with oral argument

because the facts and legal contentions are fully presented in the

materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional

process.

DISMISSED

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