The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court order dismissing a civil rights complaint without prejudice. The appellate court held that the appellant forfeited the right to challenge the dismissal because his informal brief did not address the basis for the lower court's decision.
Donald L. Bowen, Sr., a Virginia inmate proceeding pro se, appealed a district court order dismissing his complaint under Section nineteen hundred eighty-three of Title forty-two of the United States Code. The district court had dismissed the case without prejudice due to failure to prosecute and failure to comply with an order to file an amended complaint.
The court’s reasoning
The court confined its review to the issues raised in the appellant’s informal brief. Because the brief did not challenge the basis for the district court’s disposition, the court held that Bowen forfeited appellate review of the order. The court cited Jackson versus Lightsey to note that the informal brief is an important document under Fourth Circuit rules.
What it means going forward
The decision reinforces that pro se litigants must explicitly challenge the specific grounds for a dismissal in their informal briefs to preserve those issues for appellate review in the Fourth Circuit.
