2008 Decisions

Opinions of the United

States Court of Appeals

for the Third Circuit

2-25-2008

Stackhouse v. Crocker

Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential

Docket No. 07-4296

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Recommended Citation

"Stackhouse v. Crocker" (2008). 2008 Decisions. Paper 1528.

http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2008/1528
CLD-130 NOT PRECEDENTIAL

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

___________

No. 07-4296

___________

STEPHEN STACKHOUSE,

 Appellant

v.

CHRISTOPHER CROCKER, OF CROCKER AND CROCKER LAW OFFICE

____________________________________

On Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

(D.C. Civil No. 07-cv-03957)

District Judge: Honorable Timothy J. Savage

____________________________________

Submitted for Possible Dismissal Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)

or Summary Action Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6

February 14, 2008

Before: AMBRO, FUENTES and JORDAN, Circuit Judges

(Opinion filed: February 25, 2008)

_________

 OPINION

_________

PER CURIAM

Stephen Stackhouse appeals from the order of the United States District Court for

the Eastern District of Pennsylvania dismissing his complaint. We will dismiss the appeal

under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). 
2

In 2007, Stackhouse filed the instant lawsuit using a pre-printed form for

prisoner’s lawsuits under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, although he was not incarcerated at the time. 

Stackhouse seeks damages from the private attorney, Christopher Cocker, who previously

represented him in a separate lawsuit he filed against the warden of the Philadelphia

Detention Center and the City of Philadelphia for injuries he sustained while being held at

the Philadelphia Detention Center in 1994. In that suit, Stackhouse alleged that another

inmate hit him in the back of the head with a baseball bat, and he was hospitalized with a

cerebral hemorrhage. He settled with the warden and the City, and the District Court

dismissed that lawsuit. Stackhouse filed an appeal, but we dismissed it because it was

untimely. 

Because Stackhouse is proceeding in forma pauperis, we must analyze his appeal

for possible dismissal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). Under that statute, we must

dismiss an appeal if it lacks arguable merit in fact or law. See Neitzke v. Williams, 490

U.S. 319, 325 (1989). 

Although his claim is not exactly clear in the instant complaint, Stackhouse

appears to be dissatisfied with the result from the prior lawsuit and alleges that his

attorney failed to argue for a continuance. As the District Court points out, however,

Stackhouse has framed the claim as one under § 1983 by using the pre-printed prisoner

lawsuit form. In order to bring a claim under § 1983, Stackhouse must demonstrate that

Crocker acted under color of state law and deprived him of a constitutional right. See
3

Lugar v. Edmondson Oil, Co., 457 U.S. 922, 930 (1982). Because his private attorney

was not a state actor, however, he could not be liable under § 1983. See Angelico v.

Lehigh Valley Hosp., Inc., 184 F.3d 268, 276 (3d Cir. 1999); see also Polk County v.

Dotson, 454 U.S. 312, 318 (1981). Stackhouse provides no reason that Crocker should be

considered to have acted under color of state law. The District Court properly dismissed

the lawsuit under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e). 

We would add that, even if we were to disregard the usage of the pre-printed form

and the § 1983 label, the complaint does not contain a basis for the District Court to

otherwise exercise its jurisdiction. Stackhouse could be claiming that his attorney is

liable for malpractice, but as a state law claim, there is no basis of federal jurisdiction

here. Likewise, the plaintiff does not allege diversity jurisdiction. 

The appeal will be dismissed under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B).