Sandoval-Campos v. Homeland Security
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-03854
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Sandoval-Campos v. Homeland Security, Judge Swain granted 30 more days to amend a petition challenging a state conviction or withdraw the case.
Ronal-Danilo Sandoval-Campos, who is proceeding without a lawyer and is incarcerated at Eastern Correctional Facility; the respondents are Homeland Security and the agency directors listed in the caption.
What happened
In Sandoval-Campos v. Homeland Security, the court had previously ruled that it could not review the petitioner's challenge to an order requiring his removal from the United States. The court had allowed him to instead pursue a petition challenging the state conviction or sentence underlying his custody.
The petitioner, who is proceeding without a lawyer, asked for more time to comply with that earlier order. The court granted the request and gave him an additional 30 days from January 8, 2025, to file an amended petition or ask to withdraw the case. If he does neither, the court said it will dismiss the case without prejudice.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that no certificate allowing an appeal would issue because the petitioner had not made a substantial showing that a constitutional right was denied. The court further denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Sandoval-Campos v. Homeland Security · No. 1:24-cv-03854
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 8, 2025
Background
Ronal-Danilo Sandoval-Campos filed this action against Homeland Security and the listed agency directors. The court's October 7, 2024 order ruled that it lacked jurisdiction—legal authority—to consider a challenge to an order directing his removal from the United States. The court also stated that, if Sandoval-Campos intended to challenge the state conviction or sentence underlying his custody, it would treat his filing as seeking habeas relief, meaning a court review of allegedly unlawful custody, under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The court gave him 60 days to file an amended petition.
Current request and ruling
The court received a January 2, 2025 letter from Sandoval-Campos, who is incarcerated at Eastern Correctional Facility. He requested more time to comply with the October order. The court granted the request and gave him an additional 30 days from January 8, 2025, to file an amended Section 2254 petition or request to withdraw the action. The court stated that, if he does neither within that additional period, it will dismiss the action without prejudice.
Appeal-related rulings
The court stated that Sandoval-Campos had not, at that time, made a substantial showing that a constitutional right had been denied, so it would not issue a certificate of appealability. A certificate of appealability is a document generally required to appeal certain habeas rulings. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.
Classification
This is a procedural order. The court granted additional time and did not decide whether Sandoval-Campos is entitled to relief from his conviction, sentence, or removal order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.