Court Opinion

ID: 9894722
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-02 18:00:29.860289+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:10:26.982732
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-20319         Document: 00516953769             Page: 1      Date Filed: 11/02/2023

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit                                         United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                          Fifth Circuit

                                      ____________                                      FILED
                                                                                 November 2, 2023
                                        No. 23-20319                                  Lyle W. Cayce
                                      ____________                                         Clerk

   Anthony Cordell Williams,

                                                                     Plaintiff—Appellant,

                                             versus

   Brian Collier, Executive Director of TDCJ Institutional Division;
   Texas Court of Criminal Appeals; Chairman David
   Guiteriez; Director Pamela Theilkie, TDCJ Parole Division;
   Officer Unknown Scolfield, TDCJ Institutional Division;
   Officer Unknown Medcalf, TDCJ Institutional Division;
   Unknown Henderson, TDCJ Institutional Division,

                                               Defendants—Appellees.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Southern District of Texas
                                USDC No. 4:23-CV-328
                      ______________________________

   Before Smith, Southwick, and Wilson, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
          Anthony Williams, Texas prisoner # 585666, moves to proceed in
   forma pauperis (“IFP”) on appeal of the dismissal of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suit
   as frivolous and malicious. Through his motion, Williams challenges the
          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
Case: 23-20319      Document: 00516953769           Page: 2    Date Filed: 11/02/2023

                                     No. 23-20319

   district court’s determination that the appeal is not taken in good faith. See
   Baugh v. Taylor, 117 F.3d 197, 202 (5th Cir. 1997). Our inquiry, therefore, “is
   limited to whether the appeal involves ‘legal points arguable on their merits
   (and therefore not frivolous).’” Howard v. King, 707 F.2d 215, 220 (5th Cir.
   1983) (citation omitted).
          Although the district court dismissed the suit as time-barred, Williams
   does not substantively address the time-bar ruling and has therefore aban-
   doned any challenge to it. See Yohey v. Collins, 985 F.2d 222, 225 (5th Cir.
   1993) (holding that even a pro se appellant must brief arguments to preserve
   them); Brinkmann v. Dallas Cnty. Deputy Sheriff Abner, 813 F.2d 744, 748
   (5th Cir. 1987) (observing that failure to identify any error in district court’s
   analysis is the same as if appellant had not appealed).
          Because he has not shown that his appeal involves a nonfrivolous
   issue, Williams’s motion to proceed IFP is DENIED, and his appeal is
   DISMISSED as frivolous. See Baugh, 117 F.3d at 202 n.24; 5th Cir.
   R. 42.2.
          The district court’s dismissal of the suit as frivolous and malicious and
   our dismissal of this appeal as frivolous each count as a strike under 28 U.S.C.
   § 1915(g). See Brown v. Megg, 857 F.3d 287, 291 (5th Cir. 2017); Adepegba v.
   Hammons, 103 F.3d 383, 388 (5th Cir. 1996), abrogated in part on other grounds
   by Coleman v. Tollefson, 575 U.S. 532, 537 (2015). Williams is WARNED
   that if he accumulates a third strike, he will not be permitted to proceed IFP
   in any civil action or appeal filed while he is incarcerated or detained in any
   facility unless he is under imminent danger of serious physical injury. See
   § 1915(g).

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