Court Opinion

ID: 9395662
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-05-18 16:00:59.128991+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:19:10.495206
License: Public Domain

United States Court of Appeals
                            For the Eighth Circuit
                        ___________________________

                                No. 21-3337
                        ___________________________

Bela Animal Legal Defense and Rescue; Heather Hildreth; Michael Kurt Fahrney;
                             Jordan Witbracht,

                      lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiffs - Appellants,

                                           v.

   City of Des Moines; Jeffrey Lester; James Butler; Katharine Massier; Scott
  Sanders; Des Moines City Council; Animal Rescue League of Iowa, Inc.; Josh
Colvin; Tina Updegrove; Jason M. Casini; Whitfield & Eddy, P.L.C.; Jeremy Whitaker,

                      lllllllllllllllllllllDefendants - Appellees.
                                       ____________

                    Appeal from United States District Court
                    for the Southern District of Iowa - Central
                                  ____________

                              Submitted: May 9, 2023
                               Filed: May 18, 2023
                                  [Unpublished]
                                  ____________

Before COLLOTON, ERICKSON, and KOBES, Circuit Judges.
                         ____________
PER CURIAM.

       In this civil action removed from state court, plaintiffs appeal the district
court’s1 denial of their motion to remand to state court and subsequent dismissal of
the action. On careful de novo review, we conclude that the denial of the motion to
remand was appropriate for the reasons stated by the district court.

       We reject plaintiffs’ arguments that the district court erroneously relied on state
court records from their prior cases without converting the motion to dismiss into one
for summary judgment. See Roe v. Nebraska, 861 F.3d 785, 788 (8th Cir. 2017); In
re Syntax Corp. Sec. Litig., 95 F.3d 922, 926 (8th Cir. 1996). We also conclude that
there is no merit to the suggestion that the district court should have recused itself sua
sponte or that there was error in failing to address conclusory allegations of judicial
bias. See United States v. Rubashkin, 655 F.3d 849, 858 (8th Cir. 2011).
Accordingly, we deny plaintiffs’ appellate motion, and we affirm the judgment. See
8th Cir. R. 47B.
                          ______________________________

      1
        The Honorable Stephanie M. Rose, Chief Judge, United States District Court
for the Southern District of Iowa.

                                           -2-