Court Opinion

ID: 9930932
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-07 21:01:27.908236+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:12:44.827513
License: Public Domain

USCA4 Appeal: 23-7084      Doc: 25         Filed: 02/06/2024    Pg: 1 of 2

                                            UNPUBLISHED

                               UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                   FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

                                              No. 23-7084

        BILAL A. AL-HAQQ,

                            Plaintiff - Appellant,

                     v.

        KENNETH L. JAMES, PREA; EYVONNE WILLINGHAM, Warden; JOSEPH
        CANNING, Associate Warden; ELAINE FREEMAN, Associate Warden;
        CORPORAL LAPOINT, Officer at Trenton Correctional Institution; MARK
        COURTNEY, Lieutenant; JAMES WILLIAMS, Lieutenant; KAREN MEALER,
        Mail Room Supervisor; JOSHUA MCKIE, Administrative Captain; THOMAS
        BYRNE, Doctor; ANN SHEPPARD, Associate Warden; BRIAN KENDELL,
        Warden,

                            Defendants - Appellees.

        Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at
        Charleston. Donald C. Coggins, Jr., District Judge. (2:21-cv-01721-DCC)

        Submitted: January 30, 2024                                       Decided: February 6, 2024

        Before KING, AGEE, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

        Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

        Bilal A. Al-Haqq, Appellant Pro Se. Norma Anne Turner Jett, NESS & JETT, LLC,
        Bamberg, South Carolina, for Appellees.

        Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
USCA4 Appeal: 23-7084         Doc: 25      Filed: 02/06/2024      Pg: 2 of 2

        PER CURIAM:

               Bilal A. Al-Haqq seeks to appeal the district court’s order adopting the

        recommendation of the magistrate judge and granting summary judgment to Defendants in

        his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil action. Appellees move to dismiss the appeal. We dismiss the

        appeal for lack of jurisdiction because the notice of appeal was not timely filed.

               In civil cases, parties have 30 days after the entry of the district court’s final

        judgment or order to note an appeal, Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1)(A), unless the district court

        extends the appeal period under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5) or reopens the appeal period under

        Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(6). “[T]he timely filing of a notice of appeal in a civil case is a

        jurisdictional requirement.” Bowles v. Russell, 551 U.S. 205, 214 (2007).

               The district court entered its order on November 22, 2022. Al-Haqq filed the notice

        of appeal on October 13, 2023. * Because Al-Haqq failed to file a timely notice of appeal

        or to obtain an extension or reopening of the appeal period, we grant Appellees’ motion

        and dismiss the appeal.

               We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are

        adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the

        decisional process.

                                                                                       DISMISSED

               *
                For the purpose of this appeal, we assume that the date appearing on the notice of
        appeal is the earliest date Al-Haqq could have delivered the notice to prison officials for
        mailing to the court. Fed. R. App. P. 4(c)(1); Houston v. Lack, 487 U.S. 266, 276 (1988).

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