Bruce Dwain Copeland v. Eva McClintock, et al.

This petition presents the following questions: 1.. Whether the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is violated when a federal appellate court dismisses a pro se appellant's appeal for failure to respond to an order that was never received, where the court's own docket affirmatively establishes that multiple mailings to the appellant were returned as undeliverable, the court had actual knowledge of the mail delivery failure, and the appellant was never afforded an opportunity to be heard before dismissal. 2.. Whether federal appellate court clerks who dismiss appeals pursuant to court rules, without judicial review or authorization, where the court's own records establish the appellant never received the order requiring a response, violate the appellant's due process rights and are entitled to absolute immunity from damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 3.. Whether state appellate court clerks who issue orders purporting to strip a litigant of his constitutional right to appeal—without judicial authorization, without serving as ministerial acts, and in direct violation of state statutes that reserve such authority exclusively to presiding justices or judges—are entitled to absolute quasi-judicial immunity under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, or whether such conduct falls outside the scope of any applicable immunity doctrine.