UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 97-7050

RONNIE ODELL DOUGLAS, Petitioner - Appellant, versus

UNITED STATES PAROLE COMMISSION; WARDEN, LSCI Butner, Respondents - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Raleigh. Terrence W. Boyle, Chief District Judge. (CA-97-172-5-BO-3)

Submitted: March 23, 1999 Decided: May 14, 1999

Before MURNAGHAN and WILKINS, Circuit Judges, and PHILLIPS, Senior Circuit Judge.

Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

George Alan DuBois, FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER’S OFFICE, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellant. Robert Edward Skiver, Assistant United States Attorney, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

See Local Rule 36(c).

PER CURIAM: Ronnie Odell Douglas appeals from the district court’s order denying his petition filed under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 (1994). Upon review, we find that Douglas’ challenged sentence has expired.

Accordingly, because this appeal no longer demonstrates a case or controversy, we dismiss it as moot. See Spencer v. Kemna, 523 U.S. 1, ___, 118 S. Ct. 978, 983 (1998) (“[T]hroughout the litigation, the plaintiff ‘must have suffered, or be threatened with, an actual injury traceable to the defendant and likely to be redressed by a favorable judicial decision.’”). 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