Taylor v. Whitaker

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 99-7621 JEFFREY ALAN TAYLOR, Plaintiff - Appellant, versus LIEUTENANT WHITAKER, Former Internal Affairs Officer; J. JESSUP, Sergeant, Internal Affairs Officer; GEORGE M. HINKLE, Current Warden; LARRY W. HUFFMAN, Regional Ombudsman, Defendants - Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern Dis- trict of Virginia, at Norfolk. Raymond A. Jackson, District Judge. (CA-99-429-2) Submitted: March 23, 2000 Decided: March 30, 2000 Before LUTTIG, WILLIAMS, and MICHAEL, Circuit Judges. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Jeffrey Alan Taylor, Appellant Pro Se. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c). PER CURIAM: Jeffrey Alan Taylor appeals the district court's order dis- missing his 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983 (West Supp. 1999) complaint without prejudice. Taylor’s lawsuit arose from a prison disciplinary action. The district court dismissed the complaint because Tay- lor’s claims are not cognizable under § 1983 until he demonstrates that the prison disciplinary sanction has been invalidated. See Edwards v. Balisok, 520 U.S. 641 (1997); Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994). Because Taylor could cure this defect by amending his complaint, the court’s dismissal without prejudice is not an ap- pealable order. See Domino Sugar Corp. v. Sugar Workers Local Union 392, 10 F.3d 1064, 1066-67 (4th Cir. 1993). We therefore dismiss the appeal. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the mate- rials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process. DISMISSED 2