WARNER v. UNITED STATES (2021)

Richard Warner, federal prisoner # 43448-177, along with 44 other inmates incarcerated at the Bureau of Prisons’ Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth Texas, filed a civil lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of 18 U.S.C. § 3632(d)(4)(D). The district court sua sponte determined that the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995 required each prisoner to file a separate complaint asserting his individual claims, as well as paying a filing fee. The district court, therefore, ordered Warner's complaint to continue and ordered the complaints of the other 44 inmates to be severed into separate actions. That order is the subject of this appeal.

“This Court must examine the basis of its jurisdiction, on its own motion, if necessary.” Mosley v. Cozby, 813 F.2d 659, 660 (5th Cir. 1987). We conclude that we lack appellate jurisdiction over the instant appeal because the district court's severance order is not a final, appealable decision, a qualifying interlocutory order, or a reviewable collateral order. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291, 1292; Acevedo v. Allsup's Convenience Stores, Inc., 600 F.3d 516, 520 (5th Cir. 2010); In re Lieb, 915 F.2d 180, 184 (5th Cir. 1990). Accordingly, the appeal is DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.

FOOTNOTES

FOOTNOTE.  

Per Curiam:* FN* Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Circuit Rule 47.5.4.