Court Opinion

ID: 1001937
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2013-07-04 18:03:06.461994+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:12:08.668138
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

JAMES ELLIS MCCULLEY, a/k/a
Michelona Sierra McCulley,
Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

RONALD J. ANGELONE; JOHN
                                                    No. 00-6211
CARBONE, Dr.; M. VERNON SMITH,
Dr.; ROBIN L. HOLBERT, Dr.;
WILLIAM LEE, Dr.; RICHARD A.
YOUNG,
Defendants-Appellees.

JAMES ELLIS MCCULLEY, a/k/a
Michelona Sierra McCulley,
Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.
                                                    No. 00-6438
RONALD J. ANGELONE; J. CARBONE,
Doctor; M. VERNON SMITH, Doctor;
ROBIN L. HOLBERT, Doctor; WILLIAM
LEE, Doctor; RICHARD A. YOUNG,
Defendants-Appellees.

Appeals from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Virginia, at Roanoke.
Samuel G. Wilson, Chief District Judge.
(CA-99-749-7)

Submitted: June 9, 2000

Decided: June 27, 2000
Before WIDENER, MURNAGHAN, and TRAXLER,
Circuit Judges.

_________________________________________________________________

No. 00-6211 affirmed and No. 00-6438 dismissed by unpublished per
curiam opinion.

_________________________________________________________________

COUNSEL

James Ellis McCulley, Appellant Pro Se. William W. Muse, Assistant
Attorney General, Richmond, Virginia; Peter Duane Vieth, WOO-
TEN & HART, P.C., Roanoke, Virginia, for Appellees.

_________________________________________________________________

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
Local Rule 36(c).

_________________________________________________________________

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

In these consolidated cases, James McCulley seeks to appeal two
orders from an ongoing proceeding in the district court. McCulley
filed the action challenging the medical care he was receiving in
prison for his alleged transsexualism. In No. 00-6211, McCulley
appeals the district court's denial of his request for a preliminary
injunction requiring defendants to continue the medical treatment,
including hormone injections, that he had been receiving before he
entered prison. We have jurisdiction to review such an order, 28
U.S.C.A. § 1292(a)(1) (West 1993 & Supp. 2000), for abuse of dis-
cretion. Planned Parenthood of Blue Ridge v. Camblos, 155 F.3d 352,
359 (4th Cir. 1998) (en banc), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1140 (1999). We
conclude that the district court, having properly applied the balancing
of hardship analysis set out in Blackwelder Furniture Co. v. Seiling
Mfg. Co., Inc., 550 F.2d 189, 193 (4th Cir. 1977), did not abuse its

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discretion in denying the requested relief. We therefore affirm the dis-
trict court's ruling.

In No. 00-6438, McCulley seeks to appeal the district court's order
granting defendants protection from discovery pending rulings on a
claim of qualified immunity and a motion to dismiss; and denying
McCulley's motions for appointment of counsel and a medical expert.
We have appellate jurisdiction only over final orders, 28 U.S.C.
§ 1291 (1994), and certain interlocutory and collateral orders, 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 here appealed is
neither a final order nor an appealable interlocutory or collateral
order. Therefore, we dismiss this appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal conten-
tions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and
argument would not aid the decisional process. In No. 00-6211, we
deny McCulley's motion for counsel and affirm the order of the dis-
trict court. In No. 00-6438, we dismiss for lack of jurisdiction.

No. 00-6211 - AFFIRMED
No. 00-6438 - DISMISSED

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