1 Local Rule 47.5 provides: "The publication of opinions that

have no pre cedential value and merely decide particular cases on

the basis of well-settled principles of law imposes needless

expense on the public and burdens on the legal profession."

Pursuant to that Rule, the Court has determined that this opinion

should not be published. UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

for the Fifth Circuit

_____________________________________

No. 95-30217

Summary Calendar

_____________________________________

DAVID BOUDREAUX,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

VERSUS

CHARLES FOTI, Sheriff, Etc., ET AL.,

Defendants-Appellees.

______________________________________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Eastern District of Louisiana

(94-CV-2499)

______________________________________________________ (September 26, 1995)

Before DAVIS, BARKSDALE and DeMOSS, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM: 1

Boudreaux challenges the district court's dismissal of his §

1983 suit against a number of defendants as frivolous under §

1915(d) and against other defendants for failure to state a claim.

We affirm.

David Boudreaux, Sr., a convicted prisoner presently

incarcerated at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, filed

this pro se

, in forma pauperis (IFP) civil rights complaint, 422

U.S.C. § 1983, against Orleans Parish Sheriff Charles C. Foti, Jr.,

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harr y Lee, 24th Judicial District Judge

Clarence McManus, Jefferson Parish Juven i le Judge Ann Keller,

Ind igent Defender Michael Rochs, and Indigent Defender Russell

Stegeman. Following several transfers, Boudreaux amended his

complaint to name as additional defendants C.M. Lensing, the warden

of the Hunt Correctional Facility, and John P. Whitley, the warden

of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. The plaintiff

alleges violations of both federal and state cr eated rights and

seeks monetary damages of $l,000,000, a declaratory judgment that

the defendants violated his civil rights, and injunctive r elief

"against all persons" in the event of retaliation against him for

filing the complaints. Most of Boudreaux's allegations relate to

his first transfer, from the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center

to the Orleans Parish Prison System. His general claim is that the

actions of the various defendants denied himaccess to his

attorneys and to the courts.

This court will uphold the dismissal of IFP claims that are

frivolous unless the district court abused its discretion. D enton

v. Hernandez , 504 U.S. 25, 33 (1992); Ancar v. Sara Plasma, Inc.

,

964 F.2d 465, 468 (5th Cir. 1992).

Boudreaux states that Judges McManus and Keller violated his

rights by appointing counsel Stegeman and Rochs, whom he claims he

did not have access to after his transfer from the Jefferson to the

Orleans Parish facility. Boudreaux has not identified any facts

supporting his allegations against Judge McManus and Judge Keller.3

Nor has he suggested that they acted outside their jurisdictions,

thereby losing the protection of judicial immunity. M alina v.

Gonzales

, 994 F.2d 1121, 1124 (5th Cir. 1993). The district court

correctly dismissed this claim as frivolous.

Boudreaux's suit against his court appointed counsel

presumably is based upon his claim that he had dif ficulty

contacting them while in the Orleans Parish Prison System. The

district court correctly dismissed this § 1983 action against

attorneys Rochs and Stegeman because neither is a state actor for

purposes of § 1983. P olk County v. Dodson

, 454 U.S. 312, 324 -25

(1981); Mills v. Criminal Dist. Court No. 3

, 837 F.2d 677, 679 (5th

Cir. 1988). The claim, therefore, is legally frivolous.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee and Orleans Parish Sheriff

Charles C. Foti, Jr. are the last two defendants named by Boudreaux

in connection with his transfer from Jefferson to Orleans Parish.

His claims against them are also baseless. Section 1983 does not

create substantive rights but provide s a civil remedy for the

violation of protected life, liberty, or property int erests.

B lackburn v. City of Marshall , 42 F.3d 925, 935 (5th Cir. 1995);

San Jacinto Savings & Loan v. Kacal

, 928 F.2d 697, 700 (5th Cir.

1991). Boudreaux has alleged no such a violation. An inmate

generally has no constitutional right to be impri soned in any

particular institution, even if life in one institution is less

desirable. M addox v. Thomas

, 671 F.2d 949, 950 (5th Cir. 1982).

Moreover, in a recent decision the Supreme Court recognized that a

prisoner's claim that state prison regulations or statutes have4

been violated will not support a § 1983 suit unless the violations

produce conditions that are "atypical and [a] significant hardship

. . .in relation to the ordinary incidents of prison life." S andin

v. Conner

, 115 S. Ct. 2293, 2300 (1995). In other words, the

condition must be severe enough to implicate the Due Process Clause

" of its own force." I d. Intrastate prison transfers do not

qualify. S ee id. at 2297 (citing M eachum v. Fano

, 427 U.S. 215,

225 (1976)). Finally, Boudreaux alleges some specific facts

regarding limitation of telephone and mail privileges in support of

his argument that the sheriffs denied him access to the court and

to his attorneys. To state a cause of action, however, a plaintiff

must connect such allegations to prejudice in a specific legal

procee ding. S ee Walker v. Navarro County Jail

, 4 F.3d 410, 413

(5th Cir. 1993); Richardson v. McDonnell

, 841 F.2d 120, 122 (5th

C ir. 1988). Boudreaux has not done so. The district court,

therefore, correctly dismissed the suits against Sheriff Foti and

Lee as frivolous.

In short, the record and the law support the dismissal under

28 U.S.C. § 1915(d) of Boudreaux's actions against Judges McManus

and Keller, attorneys Rochs and Russell, and Sheriffs Lee and Foti.

As there is no abuse of discretion, the district court's decision

is affirmed.

Boudreaux's last claims, those against Wardens Le nsing and

Whitley, arise from his transfer to their prisons. As the district

court dismissed these actions for failure to state a claim, Fed. R.

Civ. P. 12(b)(6), this Court reviews the decisions de novo and will5

not affirm if the allegations support relief on any theory. C inel

v. Connick

, 15 F.3d 1338, 1341 (5th Cir.), cert. denied

, 115 S. Ct.

189 (1994). For reasons stated above, the plaintiff has no right

to be imprisoned in any particular institution. Nor will his

allegations that the defendants violated state prison regulations

or laws support a § 1983 claim under these circums tances.

Likewise, his more specific claims regarding limited te lephone

access cannot succeed because the prisoner has not linked them to

prejudice in a particular case. Finally, Boudreaux does not allege

that either defendant personally participated in the complained of

activity, implemented an affirmatively wrongful policy, or breached

an affirmative duty impos ed on him by state law. A plaintiff

cannot maintain an action against an official in his individual

capacity without alleging a causal connection betwee n the

official's actions and the violation. W oods v. Edwards

, 51 F.3d

577, 583 (5th Cir. 19 95); s ee Lozano v. Smith

, 718 F.2d 756, 768

(5th Cir. 1983). The district court, therefore, correctly

dismissed this action against Wardens Lensing and Whitley for

failure to state a claim.

We have considered Boudreaux's remaining arguments that the

district court erred in refusing to allow him to make an additional

amendment to his petition, in failing to order service of process

on the original defendants, and in declining to appoint counsel to

assist him in this suit. We are satisfied that the district court

did not abuse its discretion.

AFFIRMED.6