Background
Weldon Eugene Holtzclaw, Jr., proceeding pro se, appealed orders from the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. The district court had dismissed his complaint under Section nineteen eighty-three of Title forty-two of the United States Code for failure to prosecute and denied postjudgment motions to amend. The appeals were consolidated and submitted for decision without oral argument.
The court’s reasoning
The court confined its review to the issues raised in the appellant’s informal brief, as required by Fourth Circuit Rule thirty-four point B. The court noted that the informal brief did not challenge the basis for the district court’s disposition. Citing Jackson versus Lightsey, the court determined that this failure resulted in forfeiture of appellate review of the order.
The informal brief is an important document; under Fourth Circuit rules, our review is limited to issues preserved in that brief.
Jackson v. Lightsey, 775 F.3d 170, 177 (4th Cir. 2014)
What it means going forward
The decision reinforces the requirement that pro se litigants must explicitly challenge the legal basis for a dismissal in their informal briefs to preserve appellate review. It confirms that failure to do so results in forfeiture of the right to appeal the underlying disposition.