Williams v. United States
- Richard Sullivan
- 1:20-cv-01554
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Williams v. United States, Judge Sullivan confirmed that no appeal certificates would issue for two earlier orders denying Williams’s motions.
John Todd Williams, whose post-conviction motions and request for certificates of appealability were addressed; the United States was the respondent.
What happened
Williams v. United States concerns John Todd Williams’s efforts to obtain relief from an order denying his post-conviction motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255.
The court had denied Williams’s motions under Rule 60(b) seeking relief from that earlier order, and later denied his motion to clarify and correct the ruling.
Judge Sullivan confirmed that the court would not issue a certificate of appealability for either order because Williams had not made the required showing of a constitutional-right violation.
The detailed version
- Williams v. United States · No. 1:20-cv-01554
- Richard Sullivan
- Jan. 28, 2025
Background
The order concerns related civil and criminal dockets involving John Todd Williams and the United States. The court had previously denied Williams’s motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. That statute provides a procedure for a federal defendant to challenge a sentence. Williams later filed motions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b), which allows a court to provide relief from certain orders or judgments.
Earlier Rulings
On August 8, 2024, the court denied Williams’s Rule 60(b) motions seeking relief from the order denying his § 2255 motion. On January 21, 2025, the court denied, among other motions, Williams’s “Motion to Clarify and Correct” that August 8 order.
Ruling
The court confirmed that it would not issue a certificate of appealability for either the August 8 order or the January 21 order. A certificate of appealability is required for an appeal from the denial of certain post-conviction relief and may issue only when the person seeking it makes a substantial showing that a constitutional right was denied. The court concluded that Williams had not made that showing. The clerk was directed to mail Williams a copy of the order at his previously provided and most recent address.
The order was signed by Richard J. Sullivan, United States Circuit Judge, sitting by designation.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.