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222324P.pdf   08/31/2023  United States  v.  Luis Vazques
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  22-2324
   U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri - Springfield   
   [PUBLISHED] [Shepherd, Author, with Loken and Kelly, Circuit Judges] 
   Civil Commitment - 18 U.S.C. Section 4246. Section 4247(h) clearly 
   provides that only counsel or a legal guardian of the committed person may 
   file a motion to discharge, and the district court did not err in denying 
   defendant's pro se motion; the right of self-representation does not apply 
   in the context of civil commitment proceedings, and the district court's 
   action did not deprive defendant of his Sixth Amendment rights; even 
   assuming the denial applied to a Fifth Amendment access-to-courts claim, 
   the claim would still fail because defendant cannot show the requisite 
   prejudice.