Philip Gregory Maddelin v. DENNIS LEVINGSTON, Executive Freeholder of Atlantic County

CLD-326 NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
NO. 07-1991
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PHILIP GREGORY MADDELIN,
Appellant
v.
DENNIS LEVINGSTON, Executive Freeholder
of Atlantic County; RICHARD MULVIHILL,
Department Head of Public Safety;
GARY MERLINE, Warden of Atlantic County
Justice Facility
____________________________________
On Appeal From the United States District Court
For the District of New Jersey
(D.C. Civ. No. 06-CV-01054)
District Judge: Honorable Robert B. Kugler
_______________________________________
Submitted For Possible Dismissal Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)
July 26, 2007
Before: RENDELL, SMITH AND JORDAN, CIRCUIT JUDGES
(Filed August 21, 2007)
_______________________
OPINION
_______________________
PER CURIAM
Philip Gregory Maddelin appeals from an order of the United States District Court

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for the District of New Jersey, granting defendants’ motion for summary judgment in his
civil rights case.
Maddelin filed his complaint while he was incarcerated at the Atlantic County
Justice Facility as a pretrial detainee. He alleged that defendants deprived him of his
constitutional right of access to the courts when they closed the jail’s law library and
instead substituted a policy by which an inmate could request cases relating to the
inmate’s current incarceration.
As the District Court properly noted, in order to show a constitutional violation of
the right of access to the courts, an inmate must show an “actual injury” as a result of the
alleged shortcomings in the prison legal library or legal assistance program. Lewis v.
Casey, 518 U.S. 343, 351 (1996). Maddelin made absolutely no allegations showing that
he was injured by the system in place in the county jail. The District Court thus properly
granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment.
For the foregoing reasons, we will dismiss the appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§ 1915(e)(2).

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