Case Name: In re: Stephen MITCHELL, Petitioner
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2009-08-13
Citations: 340 F. App'x 787
Docket Number: No. 09-2905
Parties: In re: Stephen MITCHELL, Petitioner.
Judges: Before: SCIRICA, Chief Judge, WEIS and GARTH, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 340
Pages: 787–788

Head Matter:
In re: Stephen MITCHELL, Petitioner.
No. 09-2905.
United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.
Submitted Under Rule 21, Fed. R.App. P. July 31, 2009.
filed: Aug. 13, 2009.
Stephen Mitchell, Smithfield SCI, Hun-tingdon, PA, pro se.
Before: SCIRICA, Chief Judge, WEIS and GARTH, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
OPINION
PER CURIAM.
Stephen Mitchell is a Pennsylvania inmate who has filed three separate suits in federal district court alleging violations of his civil rights related to various prison practices and occurrences in the course of his incarceration. All three suits are still pending. Mitchell has filed a petition for a writ of mandamus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1651, apparently seeking to obtain faster adjudication of his suits by the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Mandamus is a "drastic remedy" which is generally used only to "confine an inferi- or court to a lawful exercise of its prescribed jurisdiction or to compel it to exercise its authority when it is its duty to do so." Kerr v. U.S. Dist. Court, 426 U.S. 394, 402, 96 S.Ct. 2119, 48 L.Ed.2d 725 (1976) (citations omitted). Only "exceptional circumstances amounting to a judicial 'usurpation of power' " warrant the use of this extraordinary remedy. Id. (citation omitted). Relief is not warranted here.
Mitchell's three actions were filed in April 2008, August 2008, and April 2009, respectively. Review of the District Court's docket for each case reveals no delay that would constitute an exceptional circumstance. Accordingly, we will deny the petition. We also deny Mitchell's motion for appointment of counsel and his "Motion for Order of Protection."