Filed: May 16, 2018
Latest Update: Mar. 03, 2020
Summary: Case: 17-50576 Document: 00514474496 Page: 1 Date Filed: 05/16/2018 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED No. 17-50576 May 16, 2018 Lyle W. Cayce PRINCELLA V. STEELS, Clerk Plaintiff-Appellant v. TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE; SERGEANT FNU BUSH; SERGEANT FNU HATCHER, Defendants-Appellees Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas USDC No. 6:16-CV-468 Before DENNIS, SOUTHWICK, and H
Summary: Case: 17-50576 Document: 00514474496 Page: 1 Date Filed: 05/16/2018 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED No. 17-50576 May 16, 2018 Lyle W. Cayce PRINCELLA V. STEELS, Clerk Plaintiff-Appellant v. TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE; SERGEANT FNU BUSH; SERGEANT FNU HATCHER, Defendants-Appellees Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas USDC No. 6:16-CV-468 Before DENNIS, SOUTHWICK, and HI..
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Case: 17-50576 Document: 00514474496 Page: 1 Date Filed: 05/16/2018
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
FILED
No. 17-50576 May 16, 2018
Lyle W. Cayce
PRINCELLA V. STEELS, Clerk
Plaintiff-Appellant
v.
TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE; SERGEANT FNU BUSH;
SERGEANT FNU HATCHER,
Defendants-Appellees
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Texas
USDC No. 6:16-CV-468
Before DENNIS, SOUTHWICK, and HIGGINSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM: *
Princella V. Steels, Texas prisoner # 1926484, moves for leave to proceed
in forma pauperis (IFP) on appeal from the dismissal of her 42 U.S.C. § 1983
suit for failure to state a claim. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). Steels
challenges the district court’s denial of her IFP motion on the ground that her
appeal was not taken in good faith. See § 1915(a)(3); FED. R. APP.
P. 24(a)(3)(A); Baugh v. Taylor,
117 F.3d 197, 202 (5th Cir. 1997).
* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not
be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH
CIR. R. 47.5.4.
Case: 17-50576 Document: 00514474496 Page: 2 Date Filed: 05/16/2018
No. 17-50576
Our inquiry into Steels’s good faith “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). However, because she fails to identify any error
in the district court’s analysis, she has abandoned any challenge to the
certification decision. See Yohey v. Collins,
985 F.2d 222, 225 (5th Cir. 1993)
(holding that even pro se litigants must brief arguments to preserve them);
Brinkmann v. Dallas Cnty. Deputy Sheriff Abner,
813 F.2d 744, 748 (5th Cir.
1987) (holding that failure to identify any error in district court’s analysis is
same as if litigant had not appealed). Steels has failed to show that her appeal
involves any nonfrivolous issues. See
Howard, 707 F.2d at 220.
Steels’s IFP motion is DENIED, and her appeal is DISMISSED AS
FRIVOLOUS. See
Baugh, 117 F.3d at 202 & n.24; 5TH CIR. R. 42.2. Her
motions for appointment of counsel, a bench warrant, and referral to small
claims court are likewise DENIED.
The district court’s dismissal of Steels’s complaint for failure to state a
claim and our dismissal of her appeal as frivolous each counts as a strike under
§ 1915(g). See Coleman v. Tollefson,
135 S. Ct. 1759, 1763-64 (2015); Adepegba
v. Hammons,
103 F.3d 383, 387-88 (5th Cir. 1996). Steels is WARNED that, if
she accumulates a third strike, she may not proceed IFP in any civil action or
file an appeal while she is incarcerated or detained in any facility unless she is
in imminent danger of serious physical injury. See § 1915(g).
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