Cleveland v. State of South Carolina

Filing 6

ORDER directing Clerk not to authorize service and advising plaintiff (or petitioner) to notify Clerk in writing of any change of address. Signed by Magistrate Judge Thomas E Rogers, III on 11/13/2017. (dsto, )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA
George Cleveland, III,
f/k/a George Cleveland, III, #357770,

) C/A No. 8:17-2922-RBH-TER
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)
Plaintiff,
)
ORDER
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vs.
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State of South Carolina,
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Defendant.
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____________________________________________)
This is a civil action filed by a pro se litigant. Under Local Civil Rule 73.02(B)(2) of the
United States District Court for the District Court of South Carolina, pretrial proceedings in this
action have been referred to the assigned United States Magistrate Judge.
MOTION TO RECUSE
Plaintiff’s Motion for Recusal is denied. (ECF No. 3). Plaintiff requests a new district judge
and magistrate judge on this case, citing “grossly poor judicial temperament” and “violating my civil
rights in my collateral post-conviction case in South Carolina State Court.” (ECF No. 3). As
described in the attached Report and Recommendation, this court lacked jurisdiction in the prior case
mentioned by Petitioner in the Motion and again lacks jurisdiction in this case. Plaintiff
misunderstands the law of removal jurisdiction. Plaintiff does not provide, and the Court is not
aware of a basis for disqualification of the undersigned that would be appropriate in this matter. See
28 U.S.C. § 455. The undersigned is “presumed to be qualified, and there must be a substantial
burden upon the affiant to show grounds for believing the contrary.” Nakell v. Attorney Gen. of N.C.,
15 F.3d 319, 325 (4 Cir. 1994); see also U.S. v. Grismore, 564 F.2d 929, 933 (10th Cir. 1977) (“A
judge is not disqualified merely because a litigant sues or threatens to sue him.”). Under the objective
standard, a reasonable outside observer, aware of all the facts and circumstances of this case, would
not question the undersigned’s impartiality. See id. at 286. Plaintiff’s contentions do not establish
a violation requiring recusal/disqualification. “To disqualify oneself in such circumstances would
be to set the price of maintaining the purity of appearance too high —it would allow litigants to
exercise a negative veto over the assignment of judges.” U.S. v. DeTemple, 162 F.3d 279, 287 (4th
Cir. 1998)(internal citations and quotations omitted). Thus, Plaintiff’s Motion for Recusal is denied.
TO THE CLERK OF COURT:
The above-captioned case is subject to summary dismissal. Hence, the Office of the Clerk
of Court is directed not to issue any summons at this time in the above-captioned case, unless
instructed by a United States District Judge or a Senior United States District Judge to do so.

TO PLAINTIFF:
Plaintiff must place the civil action number listed above on any document provided to the
Court provided in connection with this case. Any future filings must be sent to the address below.
All documents requiring Plaintiff’s signature shall be signed with Plaintiff’s full legal name written
in Plaintiff’s own handwriting. Pro se litigants, such as Plaintiff, shall not use the “s/typed name”
format used in the Electronic Case Filing System. In all future filings with this Court, Plaintiff is
directed to use letter-sized (8½ inches by 11 inches) paper only, to write or type text on one side of
a sheet of paper only and not to write or type on both sides of any sheet of paper. Plaintiff is further
instructed not to write to the edge of the paper, but to maintain one-inch margins on the top, bottom,
and sides of each paper submitted.
Plaintiff is a pro se litigant. Plaintiff’s attention is directed to the following important notice:
You are ordered to always keep the Clerk of Court advised in writing (Post Office
Box 2316, Florence, South Carolina 29503) if your address changes for any reason,
so as to assure that orders or other matters that specify deadlines for you to meet will
be received by you. If as a result of your failure to comply with this Order, you fail
to meet a deadline set by this Court, your case may be dismissed for violating this
Order. Therefore, if you have a change of address before this case is ended, you must
comply with this Order by immediately advising the Clerk of Court in writing of such
change of address and providing the Court with the docket numbers of all pending
cases you have filed with this Court. Your failure to do so will not be excused by the
Court.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

s/ Thomas E. Rogers, III
Thomas E. Rogers, III
United States Magistrate Judge
November 13, 2017
Florence, South Carolina

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