Joe Stephens v. STATE OF ALASKA, Alaska Division of Elections

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
JOE STEPHENS,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
STATE OF ALASKA, Alaska Division of
Elections,
Defendant-Appellee.
No. 22-35181
D.C. No. 1:21-cv-00018-RRB
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Alaska
Ralph R. Beistline, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted May 17, 2022**
Before: CANBY, TASHIMA, and NGUYEN, Circuit Judges.
Joe Stephens appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment dismissing his
action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.
§ 1291. We review de novo. Carolina Cas. Ins. Co. v. Team Equip., Inc., 741
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). Stephens’s request for oral
argument, set forth in the opening brief, is denied.
FILED
JUN 1 2022
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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2 22-35181
F.3d 1082, 1086 (9th Cir. 2014). We vacate and remand.
The district court dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because it
concluded that in his complaint and response to the order to show cause, Stephens
failed to describe a violation of federal law, and instead raised a question of state
law best addressed by a state court. However, Stephens alleged that the refusal by
the Alaska Division of Elections to include his middle names on the ballot violated
the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Because the district court did not explain
why the First and Fourteenth Amendment claims failed to confer subject matter
jurisdiction, we vacate the judgment and remand for further proceedings.
We do not consider matters not specifically and distinctly raised and argued
in the opening brief, or arguments raised for the first time on appeal. See Padgett
v. Wright, 587 F.3d 983, 985 n.2 (9th Cir. 2009).
All pending motions are denied.
VACATED AND REMANDED.

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