In re: Andrew Straw

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Decided: April 4, 2023
• Docket: 23-1120
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

USCA4 Appeal: 23-1120 Doc: 11 Filed: 04/04/2023 Pg: 1 of 2

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 23-1120

In re: ANDREW U. D. STRAW,

Petitioner.

On Petition for Writ of Mandamus.

Submitted: March 15, 2023 Decided: April 4, 2023

Before RICHARDSON and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges, and KEENAN, Senior Circuit Judge.

Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Andrew U. D. Straw, Petitioner Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. USCA4 Appeal: 23-1120 Doc: 11 Filed: 04/04/2023 Pg: 2 of 2

PER CURIAM:

Andrew U. D. Straw petitions for a writ of mandamus seeking an order directing the

United States Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina to grant him access to file

pleadings through the court’s electronic filing system. We conclude that Straw is not

entitled to mandamus relief.

Mandamus relief is a drastic remedy and should be used only in extraordinary

circumstances. Cheney v. U.S. Dist. Ct., 542 U.S. 367, 380 (2004); In re Murphy-Brown,

LLC, 907 F.3d 788, 795 (4th Cir. 2018). Further, mandamus relief is available only when

the petitioner has a clear right to the relief sought and “has no other adequate means to

attain the relief [he] desires.” Murphy-Brown, 907 F.3d at 795 (alteration and internal

quotation marks omitted).

The relief sought by Straw is not available by way of mandamus. Straw has not

shown that he has a clear right to file electronically as a pro se litigant in the Eastern District

of North Carolina. See E.D.N.C. R. 5.1(b)(1), (f) (stating that pro se litigants are not

permitted to file electronically in the Eastern District of North Carolina). Accordingly, we

deny the petition for writ of mandamus. We dispense with oral argument because the facts

and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and

argument would not aid the decisional process.

PETITION DENIED