Maina v. Riker's Island RMSC
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-00451
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Maina v. Rikers’s Island RMSC, Chief Judge Swain transferred the detention challenge to the Eastern District of New York.
Michelle Maina, also known as Nicole Main, whose detention challenge was transferred from the Southern District of New York to the Eastern District of New York; the transferee court would decide whether she could proceed without paying fees.
What happened
In Maina v. Rikers’s Island RMSC, Michelle Maina, also known as Nicole Main, filed a self-represented petition challenging the constitutionality of her detention at Rikers Island. Her criminal proceedings were pending in Kings County Criminal Court, and the opinion states that she had been released from custody on March 18, 2025.
Because Kings County is in the Eastern District of New York, the court directed the Clerk to transfer the case there. The court did not decide whether Maina’s detention was constitutional or whether she could proceed without paying fees; the transferee court would decide the fee issue.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the transfer, closed the case, declined to issue a certificate allowing an appeal, and denied fee-free status for an appeal because the appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Maina v. Riker's Island RMSC · No. 1:25-cv-00451
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 24, 2025
Background
Michelle Maina, also known as Nicole Main, filed a self-represented petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging the constitutionality of her detention at Rikers Island. The opinion states that publicly available records showed her criminal proceedings were pending in Kings County Criminal Court and that her next appearance was scheduled for April 29, 2025. A footnote states that New York City Department of Correction records showed she had been released from custody on March 18, 2025.
Transfer ruling
The court transferred the action to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York because the pending criminal proceedings were in Kings County, which is located in that district. The order did not decide the constitutional challenge. It also left to the transferee court the question whether Maina could proceed without paying fees.
Disposition
The court directed the Clerk to transfer the action to the Eastern District of New York and stated that the order closed the case. Because Maina had not made a substantial showing that a constitutional right was denied, the court stated that a certificate of appealability would not issue. It also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. The opinion is dated March 21, 2025, while the supplied case information lists a filing date of March 24, 2025.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.