Williams v. Santa Clara County
- James Donato
- 3:20-cv-04614
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 1
In Williams v. Santa Clara County, Judge Donato dismissed the petition without prejudice and denied Williams’s incomplete fee-waiver motion.
Antoine Williams, whose petition was dismissed without prejudice because he did not pay the filing fee or submit a complete application to proceed without paying it.
What happened
Williams v. Santa Clara County involved Antoine Williams, a detainee representing himself, who filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
The court notified Williams that he had not paid the filing fee or submitted a complete application to proceed without paying it. The court gave him 28 days to do one of those things, but he did neither.
Judge James Donato dismissed the case without prejudice, denied Williams’s incomplete application, and denied a certificate of appealability.
The detailed version
- Williams v. Santa Clara County · No. 3:20-cv-04614
- James Donato
- Feb. 5, 2021
Background
Antoine Williams, a detainee proceeding without a lawyer, filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The opinion does not reach the substance of his petition.
Filing-fee requirement
The court notified Williams that he had not paid the filing fee or submitted a complete application to proceed without paying the fee. The court gave him 28 days to either pay the fee or file a proper application with all required documents. More than 28 days passed, and he did neither.
Ruling
Judge James Donato ordered that the case be dismissed without prejudice. The court also denied Williams’s incomplete motion to proceed without paying the filing fee, identified as Docket No. 2, and denied a certificate of appealability. Because the dismissal was without prejudice, the order did not bar refiling. The court’s footnote also stated that federal courts generally do not intervene in ongoing state criminal proceedings and that people in state custody generally must first present their claims to the highest available state court before seeking federal review.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.