Dehoney v.

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 97-6413 In Re: MICHAEL F. DEHONEY, Petitioner. On Petition for Writ of Mandamus. (CA-94-1903-4-21BE) Submitted: May 1, 1997 Decided: May 13, 1997 Before WIDENER and MURNAGHAN, Circuit Judges, and PHILLIPS, Senior Circuit Judge. Petition denied by unpublished per curiam opinion. Michael F. Dehoney, Petitioner Pro Se. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c). PER CURIAM: Michael F. Dehoney, a state prisoner, filed a petition for a writ of mandamus requesting that a federal district judge and a magistrate judge recuse themselves from all of his pending and future cases. In support of his petition, Dehoney provides a de- tailed list of the adverse rulings made by these judges in prior cases involving Dehoney. Because Dehoney appears dissatisfied merely with the judges's rulings in his cases, and he has not established any extrajudicial bias, recusal is not warranted. See In re Beard, 811 F.2d 818, 827 (4th Cir. 1987) (holding that nature of alleged bias must be personal and not arising out of litiga- tion). Nor may mandamus be used as a substitute for an appeal. See id. at 826. We therefore deny Dehoney's petition for a writ of mandamus. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal conten- tions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process. PETITION DENIED 2