Case: 15-50377 Document: 00513365362 Page: 1 Date Filed: 02/02/2016
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
No. 15-50377 FILED
Summary Calendar February 2, 2016
Lyle W. Cayce
Clerk
CAROLE A. WALLACE; DENNIS A. WALLACE, JR.,
Plaintiffs - Appellants
v.
BARBARA W. HERNANDEZ,
Defendant - Appellee
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Texas
USDC No. 1:14-CV-691
Before BARKSDALE, CLEMENT, and ELROD, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM: *
Proceeding pro se, Carole A. Wallace and Dennis A. Wallace, Jr., appeal
the dismissal, for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, of their challenge to a
state probate court’s ruling Barbara W. Hernandez is an heir of their mother,
Ruby Greer Wallace. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1); Rooker v. Fid. Tr. Co., 263 U.S.
413 (1923); D.C. Ct. of App. v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462 (1983). The dismissal is
reviewed de novo. E.g., Lane v. Halliburton, 529 F.3d 548, 557 (5th Cir. 2008).
* Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not
be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir.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.
Case: 15-50377 Document: 00513365362 Page: 2 Date Filed: 02/02/2016
No. 15-50377
The Wallaces maintain they do not challenge the state-court judgment
and only request a declaratory judgment to define their rights. Nevertheless,
in expressly seeking the reversal of the state-court ruling that Hernandez is
their relative, the Wallaces point to both the claimed deficiency of the DNA
test relied upon by the state courts and the alleged inadequacies of Texas
probate law, amounting to claimed constitutional violations of due process.
“When issues raised in a federal court are inextricably intertwined with a state
judgment and the court is in essence being called upon to review the state-
court decision, the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to conduct such a
review.” Davis v. Bayless, 70 F.3d 367, 375 (5th Cir. 1995) (internal quotation
marks omitted).
Although pro se briefs are liberally construed, the contentions in them
must be adequately briefed to be preserved. E.g., Yohey v. Collins, 985 F.2d
222, 224–25 (5th Cir. 1993); Fed. R. App. P. 28(a)(8). Because the Wallaces do
not address the district court’s jurisdictional rulings under the Rooker-
Feldman doctrine and concerning their due-process claims, they abandon any
challenge they may have had to the court’s rulings. See Yohey, 985 F.2d at
224–25; Brinkmann v. Dallas Cty. Deputy Sheriff Abner, 813 F.2d 744, 748 (5th
Cir. 1987).
AFFIRMED.
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