Court Opinion

ID: 998592
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2013-07-04 17:13:24.359516+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:36:47.602669
License: Public Domain

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

JERRY SELLERS,
Petitioner-Appellant,

v.                                                             No. 98-7078

ALTON BASKERVILLE, Warden,
Respondent-Appellee.

JERRY SELLERS,
Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

SECOND GENESIS, INCORPORATED;
                                                               No. 98-7738
CATHLEEN STAFFORD, Clinical
Manager; ROBERT THOMAS, Senior
Counselor; WILL FARLEY, Counselor,
Defendants-Appellees.

Appeals from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Richmond.
Robert E. Payne, District Judge;
Robert R. Merhige, Jr., Senior District Judge.
(CA-97-777, CA-98-291)

Submitted: February 26, 1999

Decided: May 6, 1999

Before WILKINS and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges, and
HALL, Senior Circuit Judge.

_________________________________________________________________
No. 98-7078 dismissed and No. 98-7738 affirmed in part and dis-
missed in part by unpublished per curiam opinion.

_________________________________________________________________

COUNSEL

Jerry Sellers, Appellant Pro Se. Linwood Theodore Wells, Jr., Assis-
tant Attorney General, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellees.

_________________________________________________________________

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.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

_________________________________________________________________

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

These are consolidated appeals arising out of Jerry Sellers' convic-
tion and subsequently suspended sentence for statutory burglary. In
No. 98-7078, Sellers appeals the district court's denial of his 28
U.S.C.A. § 2254 (West 1994 & Supp. 1998) petition. In No. 98-7738,
he appeals the district court's dismissal of his 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983
(West Supp. 1998), Americans with Disabilities Act, and Rehabilita-
tion Act claims against the drug treatment center which he attended
in conjunction with his suspended sentence.

Addressing appeal No. 98-7078, we have reviewed the record and
the district court's opinion and find no reversible error. Accordingly,
we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss the appeal on the
reasoning of the district court. See Sellers v. Baskerville, No.
CA-97-777 (E.D. Va. June 5 & July 16, 1998).

Turning to appeal No. 98-7738, we note that the district court dis-
missed Sellers' action on the grounds that: (1) Second Genesis, the
drug treatment center at issue, was not acting under color of state law,
thus eviscerating Sellers' § 1983 claim; and (2) Sellers failed to cure
the defects noted by the magistrate judge's report and recommenda-

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tion in conjunction with his ADA and RA claims. Without expressing
opinion as to whether Second Genesis was acting under color of state
law, we find that Sellers has failed to establish a constitutional viola-
tion, and accordingly we affirm the district court's dismissal of Sell-
ers' § 1983 claims on this alternative ground. Turning to Sellers'
ADA and RA claims, we agree with the district court that Sellers
failed to respond to the deficiencies noted by the magistrate judge's
report and recommendation in his objections thereto. We therefore
find that he has waived appellate review and we dismiss those claims.

Accordingly, we deny a certificate of appealability and dismiss in
No. 98-7078, and affirm in part and dismiss in part in No. 98-7738.
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.

No. 98-7078 - DISMISSED

No. 98-7738 - AFFIRMED IN PART

AND DISMISSED IN PART

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