21 F.3d 1121
NOTICE: Although citation of unpublished opinions remains unfavored, unpublished opinions may now be cited if the opinion has persuasive value on a material issue, and a copy is attached to the citing document or, if cited in oral argument, copies are furnished to the Court and all parties. See General Order of November 29, 1993, suspending 10th Cir. Rule 36.3 until December 31, 1995, or further order.
Ronald Leroy KENNEDY, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
Dave DOVALA, Sheriff; The Casper Star Tribune Newspaper
Editor and Staff Writers, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
No. 93-8120.
United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.
April 4, 1994.
Before SEYMOUR, Chief Judge, McKAY, and BALDOCK, Circuit Judges.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT1
SEYMOUR
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R.App. P. 34(a); 10th Cir. R. 34.1.9. The cause is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.
Appellant Ronald LeRoy Kennedy appeals the district court’s dismissal of his pro se civil rights claim against Dave Dovala, the Natrona County Sheriff, and The Casper Star Tribune, its editors, and its staff writers.2 Mr. Kennedy claims that he was deprived of his civil rights without due process of law, and that he was denied the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Mr. Kennedy is currently serving a life sentence without parole for the murder of an eleven year old girl. In the same trial, he was also convicted of the forcible rape and attempted murder of her seventeen year old step-sister. Nineteen years later, the second woman committed suicide. At that time, the Casper Star Tribune published a story about these events in which it quoted Sheriff Dovala. Mr. Kennedy claims that Sheriff Dovala knowingly and intentionally gave the newspaper false and inaccurate information, and that the newspaper conspired with the Sheriff to violate his civil rights.
After examining the briefs and the record in this case, we agree that the case was properly dismissed. We AFFIRM the judgment below substantially for the reasons stated in the district court’s opinion.
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. The court generally disfavors the citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order and judgment may be cited under the terms and conditions of the court’s General Order filed November 29, 1993. 151 F.R.D. 470
Because we conclude that the district court properly dismissed Mr. Kennedy’s claim under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim, we need not reach Mr. Kennedy’s assertion that District Court Judge Brimmer should have disqualified himself on the grounds of bias and prejudice against Mr. Kennedy