United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 19-2437 ___________________________ David Earl Wattleton lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellant v. Tanya Hodge, Trust Fund Administrator, Federal Medical Center Rochester lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellee ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the District of Minnesota ____________ Submitted: March 18, 2020 Filed: March 23, 2020 [Unpublished] ____________ Before GRUENDER, BEAM, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges. ____________ PER CURIAM.

David Wattleton appeals the district court’s1 order dismissing his pro se civil rights complaint and denying him leave to amend his complaint. Upon careful de novo review, we conclude the district properly dismissed Wattleton’s complaint for failure to state a claim. See Plymouth Cty. v. Merscorp, Inc., 774 F.3d 1155, 1158 (8th Cir. 2014) (standard of review). We also conclude the district court properly denied Wattleton leave to amend his complaint because his proposed new claims were meritless. See Popoalii v. Corr. Med. Servs., 512 F.3d 488, 497 (8th Cir. 2008) (explaining that a court may deny a motion to amend when amendment would be futile). Accordingly, we affirm. See 8th Cir. R. 47B. ______________________________

The Honorable Eric C. Tostrud, United States District Judge for the District of Minnesota, adopting the report and recommendations of the Honorable Becky R. Thorson, United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Minnesota.

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