White v. Noeth
- Kenneth Karas
- 7:19-cv-00097
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In White v. Noeth, Judge Karas dismissed White’s petition challenging prison discipline after adopting a recommendation that found no clear error.
Equarn White, the self-represented petitioner, whose challenge to the prison disciplinary disposition was dismissed; the case was closed and no certificate of appealability was issued.
What happened
In White v. Noeth, Equarn White challenged a prison disciplinary decision that resulted in confinement in a special housing unit, loss of privileges, and loss of good-time credit. He argued that the hearing process denied him basic fairness, including through delay, officer bias, and restrictions on witnesses, documents, and assistance.
White filed the petition under a federal law allowing challenges to state-court custody decisions. Magistrate Judge Andrew E. Krause recommended denying it. White did not object to that recommendation, so the court reviewed it for clear error.
Judge Kenneth M. Karas adopted the recommendation in full and dismissed the petition. The court also declined to issue a certificate allowing an appeal and certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith. The case was closed.
The detailed version
- White v. Noeth · No. 7:19-cv-00097
- Kenneth Karas
- May 22, 2025
Background
On December 9, 2015, correctional officers at Green Haven Correctional Facility conducted a disciplinary hearing about a September 22, 2015 incident involving Equarn White. White received one year in the special housing unit and loss of privileges, later reduced to 270 days, as well as loss of one year of good-time credit. The disciplinary decision was affirmed on administrative appeal. White then filed a proceeding in Dutchess County Supreme Court, which was denied on August 1, 2016.
White’s Petition
White, representing himself, filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging the disciplinary disposition. He alleged that the hearing violated his right to due process, meaning basic procedural fairness. His allegations included an unreasonable delay before the hearing, bias by participating correctional officers, and denial of the ability to call witnesses, obtain documents, or receive employee assistance. He also challenged the punishment imposed. In addition, he alleged that the Appellate Division, Second Department violated his due-process and equal-protection rights when it denied his request for poor-person relief in connection with an attempted appeal from the state-court proceeding.
Report and Recommendation
The matter was referred to Magistrate Judge Andrew E. Krause, who issued a Report and Recommendation on May 1, 2025. The recommendation was that the petition be denied. White filed no objections. When no objections are filed, the district court reviews a recommendation on a case-ending motion for clear error. Judge Karas reviewed the recommendation and found no substantive error, clear or otherwise.
Disposition
Judge Karas adopted the Report and Recommendation in its entirety and ordered that the petition be dismissed. The order does not provide a separate merits analysis of White’s individual allegations; it adopts the recommendation after the clear-error review described above. Because White had not made a substantial showing that a constitutional right was denied, the court directed that a certificate of appealability would not issue. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith. The Clerk was directed to mail White a copy of the order and close the case.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.