Chipps v. U.S.D.C. for M.D. of Pa.

• Decision Date: 30 May 1989
• Docket Number: No. 88-5876,88-5876
• Citation: 882 F.2d 72
• Parties: 55 Ed. Law Rep. 393 CHIPPS, David Elliot, Appellant, v. U.S.D.C. FOR THE M.D. OF PA; U.S.D.C. Judge William Nealon; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit; and U.S. Third Circuit Court Judge Collins Seitz. . Submitted under Third Circuit Rule 12(6)
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

Page 72

882 F.2d 72

55 Ed. Law Rep. 393

CHIPPS, David Elliot, Appellant, v. U.S.D.C. FOR THE M.D. OF PA; U.S.D.C. Judge William Nealon U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit; and U.S. Third Circuit Court Judge Collins Seitz.

No. 88-5876.

United States Court of Appeals Third Circuit.

Submitted under Third Circuit Rule 12(6)

May 30, 1989.

Decided Aug. 14, 1989.

David Elliot Chipps, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., pro se.

James J. West, U.S. Atty., Robert J. DeSousa, Asst. U.S. Atty., Scranton, Pa., submitted a brief for appellee.

Before LUMBARD, NEWMAN and MINER, Circuit Judges. ^*

OPINION OF THE COURT

JON O. NEWMAN, Circuit Judge:

David Elliot Chipps appeals pro se from two orders of the District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania (Richard P. Conaboy, Judge), dated October 7 and October 28, 1988. The appeal, which is on submission, was assigned to the members of this panel upon their designation by the Chief Justice of the United States to serve as a panel of the Third Circuit.

The underlying lawsuit is the fourth in a series of suits filed by Chipps in the District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania concerning a dispute over his obligation to repay a student loan incurred while he was a student at Kings College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Having unsuccessfully sued Kings College and the United States Department of Education, Chipps filed this fourth lawsuit, naming as defendants the District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and one of its judges and the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and one of its judges. The complaint alleges that the defendants erred in rulings made in the second of Chipps' lawsuits; damages and declaratory relief are sought.

In the order of October 7, Judge Conaboy dismissed the suit on the ground that it was repetitious of Chipps' three prior lawsuits and an improper way to complain about prior adverse judicial rulings. Declining to impose monetary sanctions under Fed.R.Civ.P. 11 because of Chipps' status as an indigent litigant, Judge Conaboy issued an order to show cause why Chipps should not be enjoined from filing any complaint or other paper without obtaining prior leave of the District Court. On October 28, after considering a response from Chipps, which included a representation that he planned to pursue his grievances with still more litigation, the District Court issued an injunction limiting Chipps' access to the District Court, as contemplated in the show cause order.

The ruling of October 7, dismissing Chipps' latest lawsuit, was plainly correct. Chipps has repeatedly presented his claims without success to the District Court, the Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court. His fourth suit, complaining about the courts and judges who ruled against him, was properly characterized by Judge Conaboy as "clearly frivolous."

As to the ruling of October 28,...