Linda Selensky v. State of Alabama

FILED
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
NOVEMBER 4, 2011
JOHN LEY
CLERK
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 11-13288
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 1:11-cv-00195-KD-B
LINDA CONE SELENSKY,
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellant,
versus
STATE OF ALABAMA,
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellee.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Alabama
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(November 4, 2011)
Before WILSON, MARTIN and FAY, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Plaintiff Linda Selensky, proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, appeals
the district court’s sua sponte dismissal of her amended complaint as frivolous

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under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(i). We affirm.
We review the district court’s dismissal of a claim as frivolous for abuse of
discretion. Bilal v. Driver, 251 F.3d 1346, 1349 (11th Cir. 2001). “A claim is
frivolous if it is without arguable merit either in fact or law.” Id. At the same
time, we recognize that pro se pleadings are construed liberally. Hughes v. Lott,
350 F.3d 1157, 1160 (11th Cir. 2003).
Here, Selensky appears to allege that she has been deprived of her civil
rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. Her amended complaint
mentions due process, discrimination, civil rights conspiracy, fraud, false
imprisonment, assault and battery, and the tort of outrage. There are not, however,
factual allegations accompanying these claims that would plausibly entitle
Selensky to relief. Moreover, there is no legal claim sufficient to overcome the
State of Alabama’s sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment. See
Alabama v. Pugh, 438 U.S. 781, 782, 98 S. Ct. 3057, 3057–58 (1978) (per
curiam); Cross v. Alabama, 49 F.3d 1490, 1502 (11th Cir. 1995). Accordingly,
there is no arguable merit to Selensky’s claim, and the district court did not abuse
its discretion in dismissing it as frivolous.
AFFIRMED.
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