In re Ari Bailey , 389 F. App'x 149 ( 2010 )


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  • HLD-151        (June 2010)                               NOT PRECEDENTIAL
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
    ___________
    No. 10-2796
    ___________
    IN RE: ARI BAILEY, Petitioner
    ____________________________________
    On a Petition for Writ of Mandamus from the
    United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
    (Related to E.D. Pa. Civ. No. 10-cv-01834)
    ____________________________________
    Submitted Pursuant to Rule 21, Fed. R. App. P.
    June 30, 2010
    Before: MCKEE, Chief Judge, SCIRICA and WEIS, Circuit Judges
    Opinion filed: July 26, 2010
    _________
    OPINION
    _________
    PER CURIAM.
    Petitioner Ari Bailey seeks a writ of mandamus concerning a civil case that
    he filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. We
    will deny the petition.
    An inmate of the United States Prison at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania (“USP-
    Lewisburg), Bailey identifies himself in his mandamus petition as the class representative
    for numerous plaintiffs. In April 2010, Bailey initiated a civil action in the District Court
    by filing an application to proceed in forma pauperis. By order entered May 5, 2010, the
    District Court, without reaching the merits of the claims, directed the clerk to close the
    case statistically. The District Court noted that each individual plaintiff must sign the
    complaint in accordance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, and that each plaintiff
    must either pay the filing fee or file a motion to proceed in forma pauperis. The District
    Court also noted that USP-Lewisburg is located in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
    Bailey asks this Court for assorted relief, including reversal or vacation of the District
    Court’s order, transfer of the action to the United States District Court for the Middle
    District of Pennsylvania, and clarification of the application of Federal Rule of Civil
    Procedure 23 (concerning class actions) to 
    28 U.S.C. § 1915
     (the in forma pauperis
    statute). He also requests that we compel the defendants in his lawsuit to allow him to
    obtain the necessary signatures of all the plaintiffs under escort through the prison, and
    that we issue summons under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(a).
    A writ of mandamus is an extraordinary remedy. See In re Pasquariello, 
    16 F.3d 525
    , 528 (3d Cir. 1994). The petitioner must have no other adequate means to
    obtain the relief desired and the petitioner must show a “clear and indisputable” right to
    the writ. See Kerr v. United States District Court, 
    426 U.S. 394
    , 403 (1976).
    To the extent that Bailey seeks review of the District Court’s order, he has
    an alternative means to raise his challenges concerning the individual plaintiff fee status
    issue in a proper appeal, which may be commenced after the District Court has entered an
    2
    appealable order.1 Mandamus is not a substitute for an appeal. See Madden v. Meyers,
    
    102 F.3d 74
    , 77 (3d Cir. 1996). Bailey also asks us to facilitate his preparation of the
    complaint in obtaining signatures and to direct service to be made, to transfer his case to
    the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and to otherwise
    opine or assist with the merits of his case. To the extent that any of these requests could
    be a proper form of mandamus relief, we conclude that such relief is not warranted here.
    We decline to grant the extraordinary remedy of mandamus in this situation. Bailey has
    not shown that he lacks any other means of obtaining relief. We note that his complaint
    was not officially filed as part of the record while the case was in the preliminary posture
    pending the resolution of the plaintiffs’ fee statuses, and that the matter is on appeal.
    Accordingly, we will deny Bailey’s mandamus petition.
    1
    We acknowledge that Bailey makes reference to his appeal in C.A.
    No. 10-2507. That appeal is not before us, and we do not comment on appellate
    jurisdiction over that appeal or on the merits of that appeal.
    3
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 10-2796

Citation Numbers: 389 F. App'x 149

Judges: McKEE, Per Curiam, Scirica, Weis

Filed Date: 7/26/2010

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 11/5/2024