Opinions of the United
2005 Decisions States Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit
5-19-2005
In Re: Chavis
Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential
Docket No. 05-1973
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Recommended Citation
"In Re: Chavis " (2005). 2005 Decisions. Paper 1152.
http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2005/1152
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BPS-220 NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
NO. 05-1973
________________
IN RE:
SHARON CHAVIS,
Petitioner
____________________________________
On a Petition for Writ of Mandamus from the
United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
(Related to D. N.J. Civ. No. 04-CV-06130)
District Judge: Honorable William H. Walls
_____________________________________
Submitted Under Rule 21, Fed. R. App. Pro.
APRIL 21, 2005
Before: RENDELL, FISHER and VAN ANTWERPEN, Circuit Judges.
(Filed May 19, 2005)
_______________________
OPINION
_______________________
PER CURIAM
Sharon Chavis has filed a petition for a writ of mandamus, seeking to have this
Court direct the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey to refrain from
remanding to state court two matters that she had removed to federal court; Luis Pacheco
v Sharon Chavis, Superior Court of Hudson County, Special Civil Part, LT 17708-04, and
Bayonne Hospital v. Sami Kanaan, et al., Superior Court of New Jersey, Hudson County,
No. DJ 088812-04. Chavis also seeks to have this Court order the District Court to grant
a hearing to show cause why the matters should not be remanded. In an order dated
March 4, 2005, and entered on March 7, 2005, the District Court remanded the Pacheco
case to state court.1
Mandamus is an appropriate remedy only in the most extraordinary of situations.
In re Pasquariello, 16 F.3d 525, 528 (3d Cir. 1994). To justify such a remedy, a petitioner
must show that she has (i) no other adequate means of obtaining the desired relief and
(ii) a “clear and indisputable” right to issuance of the writ. See Haines v. Liggett Group,
Inc., 975 F.2d 81, 89 (3d Cir. 1992) (citing Kerr v. United States District Court, 426 U.S.
394, 402 (1976)).
To the extent Chavis seeks to have this Court order the District Court not to
proceed on remanding the Pacheco case, the petition is moot, as the District Court has
already acted.2 To the extent she seeks to have this Court require the District Court to
hold a hearing before remanding the Bayonne Hospital case, she has not shown that she
has a clear and indisputable right to have this Court intervene. If Chavis is correct in her
1
It appears that Chavis prepared her petition for a writ of mandamus on March 5,
2005; thus, she was probably not aware that the District Court had entered this order.
2
Further, as the District Court remanded because it lacked subject matter
jurisdiction, this Court cannot review the District Court’s remand order on appeal or by
mandamus. Thermtron Products, Inc. v. Hermansdorfer, 423 U.S. 336, 345-46 (1976) (28
U.S.C. § 1447(d) prohibits review of remand orders based on § 1447(c)).
2
assertion that the District Court has pendant jurisdiction to consider the state law claims
in Bayonne Hospital–we stress that we express no opinion as to whether she is correct –
then the District Court has discretion to decline to hear the case. Balazik v. County of
Dauphin, 44 F.3d 209, 216 (3d Cir. 1995). Where the District Court may exercise its
discretion, mandamus is not appropriate.
For the foregoing reasons, we will deny the petition.
3