Irving v. Kopp
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-03315
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Irving v. Kopp, Chief Judge Swain transferred Irving’s federal habeas challenge to the Eastern District of New York without deciding its merits.
Errol Irving’s federal challenge to his 2017 Kings County conviction was transferred from the Southern District of New York to the Eastern District of New York; the receiving court will decide whether he may proceed without paying fees.
What happened
In Irving v. Kopp, Errol Irving, who is incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility and is representing himself, challenged the constitutionality of his 2017 New York state-court conviction through a federal petition.
Because Irving was convicted and sentenced in Kings County, the court said the case belongs in the Eastern District of New York and ordered that it be transferred there. The opinion did not decide whether his conviction was constitutional.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the clerk to transfer the case and closed it in the Southern District of New York. She also said the receiving court would decide whether Irving could proceed without paying fees, denied fee-free status for any appeal, and said no certificate allowing an appeal would issue.
The detailed version
- Irving v. Kopp · No. 1:25-cv-03315
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 22, 2025
Background
Errol Irving, who is incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility and is representing himself, filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. That federal procedure allows a person in state custody to challenge the constitutionality of a state-court conviction. Irving challenged his 2017 conviction in the New York Supreme Court, Kings County.
Transfer
The Southern District of New York transferred the case under Local Civil Rule 83.3 because Kings County is located in the Eastern District of New York. The order addressed which federal district should handle the petition; it did not decide the constitutional challenge.
Ruling and appeal-related decisions
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the clerk to transfer the action to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York and stated that the case was closed in the Southern District of New York. The receiving court will decide whether Irving may proceed without paying filing fees; the opinion notes that he had not submitted an application for that status. The court also stated that Irving had not made a substantial showing that a constitutional right was denied, so it would not issue a certificate allowing an appeal. It further denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal and certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.