IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 95-10032
Summary Calendar
LAWRENCE D. KENEMORE, JR.
ATG ASSOCIATION (A Trust) ASSOCIATION
OF TRUST AND GUARANTEE A VOLUNTARY
UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATION,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
THE STATE OF TEXAS,
STATE OF TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE,
ANGELA MELINA RAAB, DAN MORALES,
JORGE VEGA AND DIANE BARLOW-SPARKMAN,
Defendants-Appellees.
* * * * * * * * *
LAWRENCE D. KENEMORE, JR.
ATG ASSOCIATION (A Trust) ASSOCIATION
OF TRUST AND GUARANTEE A VOLUNTARY
UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATION,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
JANE J. BOYLE, PETER WINN,
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, YEARY
GRAND JURY, AND JOSEPH THOMAS
Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Texas
(3:94 CV 2136 R)
( August 31, 1995 )
Before HIGGINBOTHAM, DUHÉ, and BENAVIDES, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Lawrence D. Kenemore, Jr., an habitual pro se litigant,
challenges the dismissal without prejudice of two related cases.
We affirm.
In the first of the two cases at issue here, Kenemore sued the
Attorney General of the State of Texas and other attorneys in the
Attorney General's office. In the second case, he sued Magistrate
Judge Jane Boyle, Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Winn, IRS Agent
Joseph Thomas, the United States, and a federal grand jury,
challenging the propriety of certain grand jury proceedings.
Originally, these two cases were consolidated. They were severed
on October 23, 1994, a week before the dismissal order was entered.
We lack jurisdiction to entertain the appeal of the first of
these two cases. Kenemore filed his notice of appeal on January 4,
1995, one day after the expiration of his 30-day time limit within
which to appeal. Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1). See also Landry v.
United States, No. 93-4351 at 17-18 (5th Cir. Mar. 29, 1994)
(unpublished) (if consolidated cases are severed when an appealed
order is entered, the 60-day time limit applies to the appeal of
any formerly consolidated case in which the United States is a
party, and the 30-day time limit applies to the appeal of any
*
Local Rule 47.5 provides: "The publication of opinions that
have no precedential value and merely decide particular cases on
the basis of well-settled principles of law imposes needless
expense on the public and burdens on the legal profession."
Pursuant to that Rule, the Court has determined that this opinion
should not be published.
2
formerly consolidated case in which the United States is not a
party).
Kenemore had 60 days to appeal the second of these two cases
because federal officers are parties to it. Fed. R. App. P.
4(a)(1). Because he met this deadline, we have jurisdiction over
his appeal. The gist of Kenemore's appellate brief is that the
district court lacked authority to order sanctions in its dismissal
order. We disagree and affirm on the merits.
In its order dismissing this case without prejudice, the
district court ordered that Kenemore be barred from filing any
further actions in the Northern District of Texas unless (1) he
deposits a thousand dollars with the court clerk as security for
costs and any sanctions that he may incur, and (2) the court
certifies, before Kenemore files any future action, that the action
has "some arguable merit." (The court also directed the clerk's
office to forward any new suits proffered by Kenemore to the court
for review before the suits can be filed.)
The court based its sanction upon Kenemore's prodigious filing
history. Incorporating by reference its memorandum opinions in
other Kenemore actions, the court noted that Kenemore's string of
litigation began when the Secretary of Labor sued Kenemore on
August 30, 1994 to enforce an administrative subpoena. On the same
day, Kenemore sued the Department of Labor and several of its
attorneys who had sued him (Civil Action No. 94-1869). Over the
next two months, Kenemore sued the IRS, the City of Arlington
Police Department, and others (Civil Action No. 94-2058), Chief
3
Judge Barefoot Sanders (Civil Action No. 94-2227-R), Magistrate
Judge Jane Boyle, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Hauser (Civil
Action No. 94-2228-R). The court below dismissed several of these
cases as frivolous, decisions we affirm today in Nos. 95-10054 and
95-10034. In light of these circumstances, the court's sanction
was appropriate. See Pickens v. Lockheed Corp., 990 F.2d 1488,
1489 (5th Cir. 1993) (per curiam) (forbidding appellant from filing
any further pleadings concerning transaction over which appellant
had already brought a "series" of frivolous cases), cert. denied,
114 S. Ct. 689 (1994).
Kenemore also complains that because he is a pro se litigant,
the court should be more indulgent with him. Yet pro se litigants
like Kenemore who bring actions to "harass others, clog the
judicial machinery with meritless litigation, and abuse already
overloaded court dockets" cannot avoid sanctions. Farguson v.
MBank Houston, N.A., 808 F.2d 358, 359 (5th Cir. 1986).
Kenemore further contends that the district court lacked the
power to enter its order before defendants filed an answer. Yet
the district court has authority to do this. The remainder of
Kenemore's points are more nebulous. He lists them at the
beginning of his brief,1 but he never briefs them. We will not
consider arguments not briefed. See United States v. Heacock, 31
F.3d 249, 258 (5th Cir. 1994).
1
He contends that the district court was "practicing law
from the bench," that it failed to "see specific U.S.
Constitutional violations" in his complaint, that it erred in
discussing in one order "two cases that are totally un-related,"
and that it "created a misjoinder of cases."
4
Accordingly, we DISMISS in part and AFFIRM in part.
5