Case: 20-10403 Document: 00516042290 Page: 1 Date Filed: 10/05/2021
United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
FILED
October 5, 2021
No. 20-10403
Summary Calendar Lyle W. Cayce
Clerk
Priscilla A. Ellis,
Plaintiff—Appellant,
versus
Eric J. Wilson, United States South Central Regional Acting Director;
Robert M. Wilkinson, Acting U.S. Attorney General; Maria
Chapa Lopez, United States Attorney; Patrick Scruggs, United
States Assistant Attorney; Kathleen Hawk-Sawyer, Federal Bureau of
Prisons Director; Michael Carr, Federal Bureau of Prisons Warden,
FMC Carswell; Cohen, Federal Bureau of Prisons Associate Warden, FMC
Carswell; United States of America Solicitor General;
United States of America FBI Agent Unknown, (SAM
Agent); United States Director of the FBI; Lux, Federal
Bureaux of Prisons Executive at FMC-Carswell, Individually and in their
Official Capacities,
Defendants—Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Texas
USDC No. 4:20-CV-82
Case: 20-10403 Document: 00516042290 Page: 2 Date Filed: 10/05/2021
No. 20-10403
Before Higginbotham, Higginson, and Duncan, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam:*
Priscilla A. Ellis, federal inmate # 03260-180, appeals the dismissal of
her 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil action pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
41(b). She also has filed motions for an en banc hearing, for the appointment
of counsel, and for leave to file an index in support of her brief. The district
court dismissed Ellis’s civil action after Ellis failed to timely comply with its
order to file an inmate trust account certificate in conjunction with her
motion to proceed in forma pauperis. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b).
In her pleadings before us, Ellis does not address the district court’s
decision to dismiss her § 1983 claims under Rule 41(b). Her failure to identify
any Rule 41(b) error is the same as if she had not appealed the ruling at all.
See Brinkmann v. Dallas Cnty. Deputy Sheriff Abner, 813 F.2d 744, 748 (5th
Cir. 1987). Although Ellis is pro se, “pro se parties must still brief the issues.”
Grant v. Cuellar, 59 F.3d 523, 524 (5th Cir. 1995). Her failure to brief the
issue on appeal works as an abandonment of that argument. See Yohey v.
Collins, 985 F.2d 222, 224-25 (5th Cir. 1993).
Accordingly, the judgment is AFFIRMED. Ellis’s motions for an
en banc hearing, for the appointment of counsel, and for leave to file an index
are DENIED.
*
Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 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 Circuit Rule 47.5.4.
2