Court Opinion

ID: 9951154
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-15 18:01:21.376796+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:35:36.688647
License: Public Domain

Case: 23-40131            Document: 45-1         Page: 1      Date Filed: 03/15/2024

           United States Court of Appeals
                for the Fifth Circuit
                                   ____________
                                                                             United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                      Fifth Circuit
                                    No. 23-40131
                                  Summary Calendar                                  FILED
                                  ____________                                March 15, 2024
                                                                               Lyle W. Cayce
Lamont Fitch,                                                                       Clerk

                                                                  Plaintiff—Appellant,

                                          versus

United States of America; Merrick B. Garland;
Christopher Wray; Michael Carvajal; Kathleen Hawk
Sawyer; Charels L. Lockett; Et al.,

                                            Defendants—Appellees.
                   ______________________________

                   Appeal from the United States District Court
                        for the Eastern District of Texas
                             USDC No. 1:20-CV-246
                   ______________________________

Before Higginbotham, Stewart, and Southwick, Circuit
Judges.
Per Curiam: *
       Lamont Fitch, federal prisoner # 12384-050, appeals from the district
court’s denial of his motion for a preliminary injunction (PI). In his amended

       _____________________
       *
           This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.
 Case: 23-40131             Document: 45-1        Page: 2     Date Filed: 03/15/2024

                                         No. 23-40131

complaint, Fitch alleged claims under Bivens 1 and the Federal Tort Claims
Act (FTCA), but the district court severed the Bivens claims leaving only the
FTCA claims in this case. The denial of a preliminary injunction is reviewed
for an abuse of discretion but should be reversed “only under extraordinary
circumstances.” White v. Carlucci, 862 F.2d 1209, 1211 (5th Cir. 1989). “[A]
preliminary injunction is an extraordinary and drastic remedy which should
not be granted unless the movant clearly carries the burden of persuasion.”
Canal Auth. v. Callaway, 489 F.2d 567, 572 (5th Cir. 1974). In order to grant
any sort of injunction, “the district court must have both subject matter
jurisdiction and in personam jurisdiction over the party against whom the
injunction runs.”            Enter. Int’l, Inc. v. Corporacion Estatal Petrolera
Ecuatoriana, 762 F.2d 464, 470 (5th Cir. 1985) (internal quotation marks and
citation omitted).
          Throughout these proceedings, Fitch has been imprisoned at the
United States Penitentiary Victorville in California. However, he filed his
instant complaint in the district court for the Eastern District of Texas, and
he sought PI relief as to events and parties who were not located in the
Eastern District of Texas. Given this context, the district court did not abuse
its discretion by denying Fitch’s motion for PI.
          Accordingly, the district court’s judgment is AFFIRMED. Fitch’s
motions for appointment of counsel and for leave to file a supplemental
document are DENIED.

          _____________________
          1
              Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Fed. Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388
(1971).

                                              2