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D. Minn.Procedural orderFiled Jan. 10, 2023

Arafat v. Fikes

Judge
Wilhelmina Wright
Docket
0:22-cv-00370
Court
U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
Pages
1
HabeasCivil Procedure
In one sentence

In Arafat v. Fikes, Judge Wright adopted a recommendation, denied Arafat’s habeas petition, and dismissed the case with prejudice.

Who this affects

The ruling affects Sheikh Bilaal Muhammad Arafat, whose habeas petition was denied and whose matter was dismissed with prejudice, and Jeffrey Fikes as the respondent.

What happened

In Arafat v. Fikes, Sheikh Bilaal Muhammad Arafat filed a petition asking for habeas relief against Jeffrey Fikes, the warden identified in the case. A magistrate judge issued a report and recommendation, and no one filed objections.

Because there were no objections, the court reviewed the recommendation for clear error and found none. It adopted the recommendation and denied Arafat’s petition.

Judge Wright ordered that the matter be dismissed with prejudice, meaning the case was ended and the same matter could not be brought again. The opinion does not explain the underlying reason for denying the petition.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Arafat v. Fikes · No. 0:22-cv-00370
Judge
Wilhelmina Wright
Date
Jan. 10, 2023

Background

Sheikh Bilaal Muhammad Arafat filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus against Jeffrey Fikes, identified as the warden of FCI-Sandstone. United States Magistrate Judge John F. Docherty issued a Report and Recommendation on October 12, 2022. The opinion states that no objections were filed.

Court’s review

When parties do not timely object to a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation, the district court reviews it for clear error. The court reviewed the report and recommendation and found no clear error.

Ruling

The court adopted the October 12, 2022 Report and Recommendation, denied Arafat’s habeas petition, and dismissed the matter with prejudice. The order does not describe the report and recommendation’s reasoning or state whether the petition was denied on the merits or on a threshold ground. Because this order adopted the recommendation without conducting a merits analysis, it is classified as a procedural order.

The authoritative version

Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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