Court Opinion

ID: 9352398
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-01-06 01:00:23.318414+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:02:27.372834
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-60191          Document: 00516599256             Page: 1      Date Filed: 01/05/2023

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

                                       ____________                              FILED
                                                                           January 5, 2023
                                        No. 22-60191                        Lyle W. Cayce
                                      Summary Calendar                           Clerk
                                      ____________

   Malcolm Kendreal Patrick,

                                                                     Plaintiff—Appellant,

                                              versus

   Michael Taylor; Nelson Estess,

                                                Defendants—Appellees.
                       ______________________________

                       Appeal from the United States District Court
                         for the Southern District of Mississippi
                                  USDC No. 5:21-CV-76
                       ______________________________

   Before Clement, Southwick, and Higginson, Circuit Judges.
   Per Curiam:*
           Malcolm Kendreal Patrick, Mississippi prisoner # 2000002096,1
   moves for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP) on appeal from the
   dismissal of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint as frivolous. See 28 U.S.C.
   § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i). By moving to proceed IFP, Patrick challenges the district

           _____________________
           *
               This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
           1
            We note that Patrick listed this prisoner number on his complaint, but the
   Mississippi Department of Corrections website states his identification number is 210744.
Case: 22-60191      Document: 00516599256          Page: 2   Date Filed: 01/05/2023

                                    No. 22-60191

   court’s certification that his appeal is not taken in good faith. See Baugh v.
   Taylor, 117 F.3d 197, 202 (5th Cir. 1997). Our inquiry “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) (internal
   quotation marks and citations omitted).
          Patrick’s brief contains no substantive arguments as to why his appeal
   is not frivolous, and he has therefore abandoned any such arguments. See
   Yohey v. Collins, 985 F.2d 222, 225 (5th Cir. 1993); Brinkmann v. Dallas Cnty.
   Deputy Sheriff Abner, 813 F.2d 744, 748 (5th Cir. 1987). Because Patrick has
   failed to identify any issue of arguable merit, his motion to proceed IFP is
   DENIED, and his appeal is DISMISSED as frivolous. See Baugh, 117 F.3d
   at 202 n.24; Howard, 707 F.2d at 220; see also 5th Cir. R. 42.2.
          The district court’s dismissal of Patrick’s complaint and our dismissal
   of his appeal both count as strikes under § 1915(g). See Coleman v. Tollefson,
   575 U.S. 532, 538-39 (2015); Adepegba v. Hammons, 103 F.3d 383, 387-88 (5th
   Cir. 1996), abrogated in part on other grounds by Coleman, 575 U.S. at 537; see
   also § 1915(h). Patrick is WARNED that, if he accumulates a third strike,
   he may not proceed IFP in any civil action or appeal while he is incarcerated
   or detained in any facility unless he is in imminent danger of serious physical
   injury. § 1915(g).

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