No. 99-60582
-1-
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 99-60582
Conference Calendar
ANTHONY CARLOS GATES,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS PAROLE
BOARD; RUTH MOSLEY, Chairperson, Parole Board
at Mississippi Department of Corrections;
CORNELLA P. MASON; WALTER TOLBERT; STEVEN PUCKETT;
DEBRA WOODWARD; SALLY SPENCER, Mississippi Central
Correctional Facility; JUSTEN HALL, Mississippi
Central Correctional Facility; EMMITT SPARKMEN,
Warden, Mississippi Central Correctional Facility,
Defendants-Appellees.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Mississippi
USDC No. 4:99-CV-125
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February 18, 2000
Before EMILIO M. GARZA, BENAVIDES, and DENNIS, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Anthony Carlos Gates, Mississippi prisoner # 44498, appeals
the district court’s dismissal of his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint
for failure to state a claim pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§ 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii). He argues that the Mississippi Parole Board
violated his equal protection rights and state law when it denied
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined
that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent
except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.
R. 47.5.4.
No. 99-60582
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him parole and denied him a psychological or psychiatric
examination.
This court reviews a dismissal under § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) de
novo, applying the same standard used to review a dismissal under
Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). Black v. Warren, 134 F.3d 732, 734
(5th Cir. 1998). The statutes creating parole in Mississippi
confer "absolute discretion" on the Parole Board; thus, no
liberty interest has been created, and federal due process rights
are not implicated by procedures that deny parole. Scales v.
Mississippi State Parole Bd., 831 F.2d 565, 565-66 (5th Cir.
1987). As Gates’s complaint fails to demonstrate a federal
constitutional violation, see Johnson v. Rodriguez, 110 F.3d 299,
308-09 (5th Cir. 1997), his appeal is without arguable merit, is
frivolous, and is DISMISSED. See 5th Cir. R. 42.2; see Howard v.
King, 707 F.2d 215, 219-20 (5th Cir. 1983).
The dismissal of his complaint for failure to state a claim
by the district court and the dismissal of his appeal as
frivolous each constitutes a “strike” under the “three-strikes”
provision of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g). If Gates accumulates three
“strikes” under § 1915(g), he will not be able to proceed in
forma pauperis in any civil action or appeal filed while he is
incarcerated or detained in any facility unless he is under
imminent danger of serious physical injury. See § 1915(g).
APPEAL DISMISSED; SANCTIONS WARNING ISSUED.