Prevett v. NH Supreme Court

• Court: Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
• Decided: February 15, 2005
• Docket: 04-2112
• Status: Published

Opinion

Not for Publication in West's Federal Reporter Citation Limited Pursuant to 1st Cir. Loc. R. 32.3

United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit

No. 04-2112

PETER D. PREVETT,

Plaintiff, Appellant,

v.

NEW HAMPSHIRE SUPREME COURT,

Defendant, Appellee.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

[Hon. Joseph A. DiClerico, Jr., U.S. District Judge]

Before

Torruella and Selya, Circuit Judges, and Stahl, Senior Circuit Judge.

Peter D. Prevett on brief pro se. Kelly A. Ayotte, Attorney General, and Daniel J. Mullen, Associate Attorney General, on brief for appellee.

February 15, 2005 Per Curiam. In this appeal, pro se appellant Peter

Prevett appeals from a district court judgment dismissing his

suit, which challenged, on equal protection grounds, the facial

validity of a state bar admission rule, N.H. Sup. Ct. R.

42(10)(a)(ii), and the state supreme court's reliance on the

rule to deny his application for admission to the bar. In an

order dated May 26, 2004, the district court dismissed the

challenge to the state court's denial of the appellant's bar

application based on the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. In an order

dated August 4, 2004, the court rejected the challenge to the

facial validity of the rule, finding that there was no equal

protection violation because the rule is rationally related to

a legitimate state interest. After careful review of the

record and the appellate filings, we affirm, essentially for

the reasons given by the district court in its thoughtful

decisions.

Affirmed.

-2-