T hi s or der and j udgm ent i s not bi ndi ng pr ece dent exce pt under t he * doct r i nes of l aw of t he ca s e, r es j udi cat a and c ol l at er al es t oppel . I t m ay be ci t ed, how ever , for i t s per s uas i ve val ue cons i s t ent w i t h Fed. R . A pp. P. 32. 1 ( eff . D ec. 1 , 2 0 0 6 ) an d 1 0 th C ir . R . 3 2 . 1 (eff. Jan . 1 , 2 0 0 7 ). A ft er exami ni ng t he br i efs and appe l l at e r ecor d, t hi s panel has det er m i ned ** unani m ous l y t hat or al ar gum ent w oul d not m at er i al l y as s i s t t he det er m i nat i on of th is a p p e a l. S e e F e d . R . A p p . P . 3 4 (a )(2 ); 1 0 th C ir. R . 3 4 .1 (G ). T h e c a se is th e re fo re o rd e re d su b m itt e d w ith o u t o ra l ar g u m e n t. 

## F I LED Unite d St at e s C ourt o f Appe als Te nt h Ci r c uit 

### D e c e m b e r 6, 2006 Elisab eth A. Shumaker C l erk of C ourt UNI TED S TATES CO URT O F AP PEALS

T E N T H C IR C U IT AT HE L I A P . S M I T H- J OHNS ON,

P lain tiff - A p p e llan t, v. M A R Y A N N FL U N D E R , C hai rm an, W y andott e/ L eave nw orth A r ea A gencyon A gi ng, D efe ndant- A ppel l ee. N o. 06- 3278 (D . K ansas) ( D. C. No . 0 6 - CV- 4 0 1 9 - J AR)

ORDE R AND J UDGM EN T * B efor e HENR Y , B RI S CO E , and O’ BRI EN , C i rcui tJudg es. ** Pl ai nt i ff- A ppel l antA thel i a P. Sm i th- J ohns on, pr ocee di ng pr o s e, appea l s the d i s tr i c tc o u r t ’ s d i s mi s s a l o f h e rc i v i l r i g h t s a n d d i s c r i mi n a t i o n c l a i ms . W e a f f i rm. O n February2, 2006, M s . Sm i th- J ohns on fi l ed s ui ti n the U ni t ed St at es D i s tr i ct C our tforthe D i s tr i ctof K ans as . O n M ar ch 31, 2006, the di s tr i ctcourtent er ed a-2-

condi t i onal or derof di s m i s s al . I n a thor ough fi ve- page or der , the di s tr i ctcourtexpl ai ned thatM s . Sm i th- J ohns on’ s pr oces s and s ervi ce of pr oces s w er e i ns uffi ci entunderFeder al R ul es of C i vi l Pr ocedur e 12( b) ( 4) and ( 5) . A ddi t i onal l y , the di s tr i ctcourtnot ed that , even though i tw as cons trui ng hercompl ai ntl i ber al l yt o s t at e ci vi l r i ght s and di s cr i m i nat i on cl ai m s , M s . Sm i th- J ohns on fai l ed t o s uffi ci ent l yi nvoke fe der al j ur i s di ct i on underFeder al R u le o f C iv il P ro c e d u re 1 2 (b )( 1 ) b e c a u s e s h e d id n o t m a k e a n yf a c tu a l a lle g a tio n s . A ccor di ngl y , the di s tr i ctcourtgave M s . Sm i th- J ohns on unt i l J une 20, 2006 t o corr ect thes e d ef ici en cies a n d am en d h er c o m p lai n t. B ec au se sh e d id n o t com p lyw ith the o rde r, th e d is tr ic t c o u rtd is m is s e d th e a c tio n o n J u ly 7 , 2 0 0 6 . M s . S m ith -J o h n s o n h a s f o rf e ite d a p p e lla te re v ie w o f th e d is tr ic t c o u rt ’s d e c is io n . A lth o u g h w e c o n stru e p ro se fil ing s li b era ll y , “[ t] h is co u rth as re p ea tedlyinsist ed that p ro s e part i es fol l ow the s ame rul es of pr ocedur e thatgovern otherl i t i gant s . ” Ni el s en v. P r i ce , 1 7 F .3 d 1 2 7 6 , 1 2 7 7 (1 0 th C ir . 1 9 9 4 ) ( in te rn a l q u o ta tio n m a rk s o m itte d ). Feder al R ul e of A ppel l at e Pr ocedur e 28( a) r equi r es an appe l l ant ’ s br i ef t o cont ai n “a s t at ementof the i s s ues pr es ent ed forr evi ew , ” “as t at ementof the ca s e br i efl yi ndi cat i ng the natur e of th e c a se , the c o u rse o f

p ro c e e d in g s, a n d th e d isp o sitio n b e lo w ,” “ a sta tem e n t o f f a c ts r el evantt o the i s s ues s ubm i tt ed forr evi ew w i th appr opr i at e r efe r ence s t o the r ecor d, ” “a s um m aryof the ar gum ent , w hi ch mustcont ai n a s ucci nct , cl earand ac cur at e s t at ementof the ar gum ent s m ade i n the bodyof the br i ef, ” and “ the ar gum ent , w hi ch mustcont ai n: a p p e llan t’s c o n ten tio n s a n d th e re a so n s f o r th e m , w ith c itatio n s to th e a u th o rities a n d p a rts of the r ecor d on w hi ch appe l l antr el i es ; and foreac h i s s ue, a conc i s e s t at ementof the-3-

appl i cabl e s t andar d of r evi ew . ” F ED . R. A PP . P. 28( a) ( 5) - ( 9) . T hus , “[u] nderR ul e 28, w hi ch appl i es equal l yt o pr o s e l i t i gant s , a br i ef mustcont ai n m or e than a ge ner al i zed a ss e rtio n o f

e rro r, w ith c itatio n s to su p p o rtin g a u th o rity . [W ]h e n a p ro se lit ig a n t f a ils to compl yw i th thatrul e, w e ca nnotfi l l the voi d bycr aft i ng ar gum ent s and per form i ng the nece s s aryl egal r es ear ch. ” G ar r et tv. Selby C onnorMaddux & Janer , 425 F. 3d 836, 841 ( 10th C i r . 2005) ( s econd a l t er at i on i n or i gi nal ; i nt ernal quot at i on m arks and ci t at i on o m itte d ). H er e, M s . Sm i th J ohns on’ s ent i r e br i ef i s composed of the i s s ues pr es ent ed for r evi ew ( “ci vi l r i ght s ” and “ di s cr i m i nat i on”) and one pot ent i al compl et e s ent ence ( “pr oof o f s ta te m e n ts h a v e b e e n s e n t in p re v io u s re c o rd s in y o u r p o s s e s s io n ” ). A p lt’ s B r. a t 2 -3 . H erbr i ef doe s notcont ai n a s t at ementof fa ct s , ci t at i ons t o the r ecor d, ora s t at ementof the appl i cabl e s t andar d of r evi ew w i th r es pectt o the i s s ues pr es ent ed. Fur therm or e, s he does notcont es tthe di s tr i ctcourt ’ s anal y s i s i n i t s condi t i onal or derof di s m i s s al , nordoes s he pr es entanyr eas on forfai l i ng t o amend hercompl ai nt . A tbes t , then, M s . Sm i thJ ohns on m akes “gene r al i zed a s s ert i on[s ] of err or ” thatherci vi l r i ght s w er e vi ol at ed and th a t s h e w a s th e v ic tim o f d is c ri m in a tio n . G a rr e tt , 425 F. 3d at841. W hi l e w e cons true p ro se p lea d in g s lib e ra lly , this sp a rse su b m iss io n is s o d e f icie n t th a t w e d e c lin e to exer ci s e “a nydi s cr et i on w e mayhave t o del ve fors ubs t ance . ” Id . a t 8 4 0 .-4-

A cc o rdin g ly , w e A F F IR M the d istri ct co u rt ’s dism issal of M s. S m ith -Joh n so n ’s c o m p la in t. E n ter e d f o r th e C o u rt, R o b ert H . H en ry C i r cui tJ udge