Leonard Strickland v. Patricia Caruso

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION

File Name: 09a0469n.06

No. 08-1397

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED Jul 08, 2009 LEONARD GREEN, Clerk LEONARD ARTHUR STRICKLAND, ) )

Plaintiff-Appellant, ) ) ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED ) STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR V. ) THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF ) MICHIGAN AT GRAND RAPIDS ) )

PATRICIA L. CARUSO, M.D.O.C., Director ) ) OPINION Defendant-Appellee. ) ) )

BEFORE: MOORE and McKEAGUE, Circuit Judges; FORESTER, Senior District Judge.* FORESTER, Senior District Judge.

Plaintiff-Appellant, Leonard Arthur Strickland, a pro se Michigan prisoner, appeals a district court order granting the defendants’ motion to dismiss his civil rights suit filed under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The district judge here dismissed the complaint sua sponte for failure to state a claim, without service to the defendant. In light of this court’s recent decision in Jones v. Caruso, — F.3d —, 2009 WL 1750629 (6th Cir. June 23, 2009), this disposition is not proper. Therefore, we VACATE the judgment and REMAND the case to the district court for further proceedings consistent with the decision in Jones.

McKeague, J., concurring. I agree that Jones v. Caruso, – F.3d –, 2009 WL 1750629 (6th Cir. June 23, 2009), requires us to remand for further proceedings. For the reasons set out in my dissent from that opinion, however, I remain convinced that the Jones majority opinion erred in its analysis of the Michigan Department of Correction’s regulation of Uniform Commercial Code materials.