Steward v. Napoli
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:24-cv-05758
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Anthony Steward v. Napoli, Judge Abrams said she would consider late objections to an earlier habeas dismissal and set a response deadline.
Anthony Steward and Napoli, Auburn Correctional Facility; the respondent was given an opportunity to respond to Steward’s objections by October 23, 2025.
What happened
In Anthony Steward v. Napoli, the court addressed objections that Anthony Steward submitted after the court had adopted a recommendation to dismiss his habeas petition. The recommendation also proposed allowing him to amend the petition and dismissing his request for release or bail.
The court had adopted that recommendation before receiving Steward’s objections and after Steward appealed. Because the appeal would ordinarily limit the court’s authority to consider the objections, the court said it intends to issue a ruling explaining how it would address them. It found there appeared to be a valid reason for the late filing.
Judge Ronnie Abrams ordered that the respondent may respond to the objections by October 23, 2025. This order did not decide the objections or the underlying petition.
The detailed version
- Steward v. Napoli · No. 1:24-cv-05758
- Ronnie Abrams
- Oct. 9, 2025
Background
On July 31, 2025, Magistrate Judge Willis issued a Report and Recommendation advising the Court to grant the respondent’s motion to dismiss Anthony Steward’s habeas petition in its entirety without prejudice, grant Steward’s motion to amend the petition, and dismiss Steward’s motion for release or bail. After receiving no objections, the Court adopted the recommendation in its entirety on August 28, 2025.
Steward later told the Court that he did not receive the recommendation until August 28. He submitted objections, which the Court received on September 15, 2025. Steward also filed a notice of appeal from the order adopting the recommendation on September 30, 2025.
Court’s Action
The Court explained that an appeal would ordinarily prevent it from considering Steward’s objections while the appeal was pending. It nevertheless stated that it intends to issue an indicative ruling under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 62.1. An indicative ruling is a ruling about how the court would decide an issue even though the appeal limits its authority to act directly. The Court stated that there appeared to be good cause for the objections’ late filing.
The Court did not decide the objections in this order. Instead, it gave the respondent until October 23, 2025, to respond if the respondent chose to do so.
Other Direction
The Clerk of Court was directed to mail copies of the order to Anthony Steward at the two correctional-facility addresses listed in the order. Judge Ronnie Abrams signed the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.