USCA4 Appeal: 21-7114 Doc: 16 Filed: 01/25/2022 Pg: 1 of 2

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 21-7114

WARREN MATTHEW GIDDINGS, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE; MONTGOMERY COUNTY MARYLAND; FOX NEWS STAFF; ROCKVILLE MARYLAND, Defendants - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Baltimore.

Stephanie A. Gallagher, District Judge. (1:21-cv-01360-SAG)

Submitted: January 20, 2022 Decided: January 25, 2022

Before WILKINSON, DIAZ, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

Dismissed and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Warren Matthew Giddings, Appellant Pro Se.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

USCA4 Appeal: 21-7114 Doc: 16 Filed: 01/25/2022 Pg: 2 of 2

PER CURIAM: Warren Matthew Giddings seeks to appeal the district court’s order dismissing without prejudice his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint for failure to comply with the court’s prior order directing him to amend his complaint. This court may exercise jurisdiction only over final orders, 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and certain interlocutory and collateral orders, 28 U.S.C. § 1292; Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b); Cohen v. Beneficial Indus. Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541, 545-46 (1949). “[D]ismissals without prejudice generally are not appealable unless the grounds for dismissal clearly indicate that no amendment in the complaint could cure the defects in the plaintiff’s case.” Bing v. Brivo Sys., LLC, 959 F.3d 605, 610 (4th Cir. 2020) (internal quotation marks omitted), cert. denied, 141 S. Ct. 1376 (2021). Because the district court dismissed Giddings’ complaint without prejudice and Giddings could possibly cure the pleading deficiencies identified by the court by filing an amended complaint, the court’s order is neither a final order nor an appealable interlocutory or collateral order.

Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction and remand to the district court with instructions to allow Giddings to amend the complaint. * We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

DISMISSED AND REMANDED

* In his informal brief and notice of appeal, Giddings claims that he never received the district court’s order directing him to amend his complaint.