Greene v. Fontenot, et al

United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
March 7, 2007
Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
In the
United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit
_______________
m 06-31047
Summary Calendar
_______________
MAUREEN GREENE,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
VERSUS
RUTH FONTENOT,
INDIVIDUALLY AND AS FORMER MAYOR OF NEW IBERIA;
CITY OF NEW IBERIA,
Defendants-Appellees.
_________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Louisiana
m 6:05-CV-1954
______________________________
Before SMITH, WIENER, and OWEN,
Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Maureen Greene, a vexatious pro se liti-
gant, appeals an order dated September 28,
2006, that grants conditional sanctions for her
conduct in this litigation. Greene also appeals
the district court’s refusal to recuse. And fi-
nally, Greene moves for preparation of a tran-
* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has de-
termined that this opinion should not be published
and is not precedent except under the limited cir-
(continued...)
*(...continued)
cumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.

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script at government expense.
It is evident that Greene has badly abused
the judicial process, as the district court found.
She declined to participate in discovery, and
she made scandalous allegations against vari-
ous officials in this and other courts. The dis-
trict court levied sanctions, but those sanctions
are not payable unless and until Greene “files
a suit or cause of action in this court or in the
state courts of Louisiana arising out of the
same operative facts as this suit . . . .”
The district court did not abuse its discre-
tion in imposing these sanctions, which are
entirely appropriate. The judgment is AF-
FIRMED. Greene is warned that this court
can impose sanctions sua sponte for vexatious
and frivolous appeals. See Coghlan v. Star-
key,852 F.2d 806 (5th Cir. 1988) (per curiam).
Such sanctions are warranted here, but the
court hereby exercises its discretion not to
take such action at this time. The motion for
a transcript at government expense is DE-
NIED. Greene cannot raise, at this time, the
recusal of the district judge, because she never
sought recusal in the district court.

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