Bierley v. Grolumond

174 F. App'x 673
Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit·Decided March 16, 2006·No. 05-3696·Unpublished·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

OPINION

PER CURIAM.

Appellant Harry Bierley appeals the District Court’s orders of May 31, 2005, and July 1, 2005. For the reasons that follow, we will dismiss the appeal as frivolous. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B); see also Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 325, 109 S.Ct. 1827, 104 L.Ed.2d 338 (1989).

The parties are familiar with the facts, so we will only briefly revisit them here. In November 2004, Bierley was sentenced by Judge DiSantis in the Court of Common Pleas of Erie County to a term of two to eleven months’ imprisonment. As a condition of Bierley’s parole, Judge DiSan-tis restricted his access to the Erie County *675 Courthouse. Specifically, Bierley was required to give prior notice to his parole officer if he wished to conduct official business on his own behalf or testify as a witness during his parole period. However, if Bierley wanted access to the Courthouse for any other reason, Judge DiSan-tis’ prior approval was necessary. On February 3, 2005, Bierley entered the Courthouse to “conduct! ] business on a civil matter.” However, because Bierley had neither given prior notice to his parole officer nor received permission from Judge DiSantis to enter the Courthouse, Bierley was ordered to leave the premises.

The following day, Bierley initiated the underlying civil rights action in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. In his complaint and subsequent amended complaint, Bier-ley alleged violations of his rights to due process, equal protection, and access to the courts resulting from the 2004 state criminal proceedings and his removal from the Courthouse on February 3, 2005. Bierley sought compensatory damages, and declaratory and injunctive relief. The defendants responded to Bierley’s complaint by arguing, inter alia, that his claims were without merit and that they were entitled to either qualified or absolute immunity. On May 26, 2005, the District Court held a 40-minute telephonic hearing with Bierley and counsel for the defendants. 1 Thereafter, by order entered May 31, 2005, the District Court dismissed Bierley’s action. Bierley then filed a timely motion for reconsideration, which the District Court denied by order entered July 1, 2005. This timely appeal followed.

This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Because Bierley has been granted leave to proceed in forma pawperis on appeal, this Court must dismiss his appeal if it is “frivolous.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). A frivolous appeal has no arguable basis in law or fact. Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 325, 109 S.Ct. 1827. After a careful review of the record, including the transcript of the May 26 hearing, we will dismiss this appeal because Bierley’s claims lack an arguable basis in law or fact.

We turn first to Bierley’s claims regarding his 2004 state court conviction. Insofar as Bierley is attempting to challenge the fact or duration of his conviction or sentence, a petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 is the exclusive method for seeking relief. 2 See Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 488-90, 93 S.Ct. 1827, 36 L.Ed.2d 439 (1973). Likewise, to the extent that Bierley’s claims “would necessarily imply the invalidity of his conviction or sentence,” they are barred by Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477, 487, 114 S.Ct. 2364, 129 L.Ed.2d 383 (1994). See Gilles v. Davis, 427 F.3d 197, 208-210 (3d Cir.2005).

Moreover, to the extent that any of the remaining claims can arguably survive the Heck bar, we find them to be merit-less. Bierley’s claims against Judge DiSantis are, of course, barred by the doctrine of judicial immunity. It is a well-established principle that judges are absolutely immune from suits for damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 when they act in a judicial capacity. See Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349, 356-57, 98 S.Ct. 1099, 55 L.Ed.2d 331 (1978) (citation omitted) *676 (“A judge will not be deprived of immunity because the action he took was in error, was done maliciously, or was in excess of his authority; rather, he will be subject to liability only when he has acted in the ‘clear absence of all jurisdiction.’ ”). Because the acts Bierley complains of—sentencing, denial of pre-trial motions, and the conditions of parole—were all performed by Judge DiSantis in his official capacity, Judge DiSantis is entitled to judicial immunity. See, Gallas v. Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 211 F.3d 760, 768-69 (3d Cir.2000).

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Bierley v. Grolumond, 174 F. App'x 673 (3d Cir. 2006).

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