Mika'ya Shakur v. Henry Ponton

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 2:13-cv-00406-RAJ-LRL Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999730668]. Mailed to: Shakur. [15-7252]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 15-7252

MIKA’YA ALI SHAKUR,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
HENRY PONTON, Warden; MRS. SANDERS,
MOICHECK, Lead Investigator,

Hearing

Officer;

LT.

Defendants - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Norfolk. Raymond A. Jackson, District
Judge. (2:13-cv-00406-RAJ-LRL)

Submitted:

December 22, 2015

Before NIEMEYER
Circuit Judge.

and

KING,

Decided:

Circuit

Judges,

and

January 6, 2016

DAVIS,

Senior

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Mika’ya Ali Shakur, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Mika’ya

Ali

Shakur

appeals

the

district

court’s

orders

dismissing his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2012) action for failure to
state a claim for relief, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(b)(1)
(2012), and denying his postjudgment motion to amend.

For the

reasons that follow, we affirm.
Shakur first challenges the district court’s dismissal of
his due process challenge to his institutional conviction.

We

review de novo the dismissal of an action for failure to state a
claim under § 1915A(b)(1).

Slade v. Hampton Roads Reg’l Jail,

407 F.3d 243, 248 (4th Cir. 2005).

To survive dismissal, “a

complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as
true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.”
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (internal quotation
marks

omitted).

accept

“legal

In

making

conclusions

this
drawn

determination,
from

the

we

facts,

need
.

not
.

.

unwarranted inferences, unreasonable conclusions, or arguments.”
Philips v. Pitt Cty. Mem’l Hosp., 572 F.3d 176, 180 (4th Cir.
2009) (internal quotation marks omitted).
Our review of the record reveals no error in the district
court’s

conclusion

deprivation

of

that

Shakur

due

process

his

failed
rights.

to

state
See

a

cognizable

Superintendent,

Mass. Corr. Inst. v. Hill, 472 U.S. 445, 455 (1985); Wolff v.
McDonnell,

418

U.S.

539,

556

(1974);
2

see

also

Kennedy

v.

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Blankenship, 100 F.3d 640, 643 (8th Cir. 1996) (recognizing that
mere violation of state law does not support federal due process
violation).

Although

Shakur

argues

that

the

district

court

should not have dismissed his action without sua sponte granting
leave to amend, we find no error in the court’s refusal to grant
such

leave

under

the

circumstances

presented.

See

Matrix

Capital Mgmt. Fund, LP v. BearingPoint, Inc., 576 F.3d 172, 193
(4th Cir. 2009).
Shakur similarly argues that the district court abused its
discretion

in

complaint.

denying

his

postjudgment

motion

to

amend

the

We review the denial of a postjudgment motion to

amend for abuse of discretion.

Mayfield v. Nat’l Ass’n for

Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc., 674 F.3d 369, 378 (4th Cir. 2012).
A plaintiff cannot amend as of right after the dismissal of his
action with prejudice.
Cir.

1980).

Instead,

Sachs v. Snider, 631 F.2d 350, 351 (4th
the

district

court

may

not

grant

a

postjudgment motion to amend a complaint unless the judgment is
set aside or vacated pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(e) or 60(b).
Laber v. Harvey, 438 F.3d 404, 427 (4th Cir. 2006) (en banc)
(internal

quotation

marks

omitted).

“To

determine

whether

vacatur is warranted, however, the court need not concern itself
with either of those rules’ legal standards,” but “need only ask
whether the amendment should be granted, just as it would on a
prejudgment motion to amend pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a).”
3

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Katyle v. Penn Nat’l Gaming, Inc., 637 F.3d 462, 471 (4th Cir.
2011).
Shakur did not provide the court with a proposed amended
complaint, preventing the court from determining whether Shakur
could meet the requirements for amendment.

Moreover, our review

of the amended complaint Shakur ultimately filed supports the
court’s decision to deny amendment.

See Matrix Capital, 576

F.3d at 193.
Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s judgment.
dispense

with

contentions

are

oral

argument

adequately

because

presented

in

the
the

facts

We

and

legal

materials

before

this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

4