UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 97-7592
STEVEN WHISENANT; RICHARD LAMAR FENSTERMACHER,
Plaintiffs - Appellants,
versus
RONALD ANGELONE, Director of Virginia Depart-
ment of Corrections; LARRY W. HUFFMAN, Region-
al Director; G. P. DODSON, Warden, Coffeewood
Correctional Center,
Defendants - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western Dis-
trict of Virginia, at Roanoke. Samuel G. Wilson, Chief District
Judge. (CA-96-234-R)
Submitted: April 29, 1998 Decided: May 14, 1998
Before MURNAGHAN, NIEMEYER, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.
Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Steven Whisenant, Richard Lamar Fenstermacher, Appellants Pro Se.
Collin Jefferson Hite, SANDS, ANDERSON, MARKS & MILLER, Richmond,
Virginia, for Appellees.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
See Local Rule 36(c).
PER CURIAM:
Appellants filed an untimely notice of appeal. We dismiss for
lack of jurisdiction. The time periods for filing notices of appeal
are governed by Fed. R. App. P. 4. These periods are "mandatory and
jurisdictional." Browder v. Director, Dep't of Corrections, 434
U.S. 257, 264 (1978) (quoting United States v. Robinson, 361 U.S.
220, 229 (1960)). Parties to civil actions have thirty days within
which to file in the district court notices of appeal from judg-
ments or final orders. Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1). The only exceptions
to the appeal period are when the district court extends the time
to appeal under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(5) or reopens the appeal
period under Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(6).
The district court entered its order on Sept. 29, 1997; Appel-
lants' notice of appeal was filed on Nov. 3, 1997, which is beyond
the thirty-day appeal period. Appellants' failure to note a timely
appeal or obtain an extension of the appeal period leaves this
court without jurisdiction to consider the merits of Appellants'
appeal. We therefore dismiss the appeal. We dispense with oral
argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately
presented in the materials before the court and argument would not
aid the decisional process.
DISMISSED
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