IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
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No. 95-60294
Conference Calendar
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JAMES C. METCALF,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
M. L. McMILLIAN, GRAY EVANS,
EARL TATE, YELLIE GRAMMENS,
ANN LEE,
Defendants-Appellees.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Mississippi
USDC No. 4:93cv327-B-D
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August 22, 1995
Before KING, JOLLY, and WIENER, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
James C. Metcalf filed a pro se, in forma pauperis (IFP)
civil rights complaint, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that he was
improperly confined to administrative segregation; that various
state officials conspired against him because of his political
beliefs; and that he was sentenced without due process. The
district court dismissed the complaint as frivolous.
*
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that this opinion should not be published.
No. 95-60294
-2-
The Due Process Clause does not create a liberty interest in
a specific custody classification, although a state may create a
liberty interest protected by the Due Process Clause through the
enactment of statutory or regulatory procedures. Hewitt v.
Helms, 459 U.S. 460, 466-69 (1983). Under Mississippi law,
Metcalf had no right to a particular classification. Miss. Code
Ann. §§ 47-5-99 - 47-5-103 (1993); Tubwell v. Griffith, 742 F.2d
250, 253 (5th Cir. 1984).
In Sandin v. Conner, 115 S. Ct. 2293, 2300-01 (1995), the
Supreme Court stated that the reviewing court should consider the
nature of the challenged state action and whether it involved
such a significant departure from normal prison conditions that
the state might have conceivably created a liberty interest.
Metcalf's initial confinement in administrative segregation as an
escape risk is not an "atypical and significant hardship" which
would give rise to a protected liberty interest. Id. at 2300.
Metcalf has not raised or briefed his claims that state
officials conspired against him because of his political beliefs
or that he was sentenced without due process. Therefore, these
claims are considered abandoned. Evans v. City of Marlin, Tex.,
986 F.2d 104, 106 n.1 (5th Cir. 1993) (issues not raised or
briefed are considered abandoned).
AFFIRMED.