Rodriguez v. United States

Background

Jose Hernando Rodriguez, who was incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton, New Jersey, filed a pro se motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 challenging his judgment of conviction. The opinion states that court records showed Rodriguez had previously filed a § 2255 motion challenging the same conviction and that the earlier motion had been decided on the merits.

Reason for the ruling

The court treated the new application as a second or successive § 2255 motion. Under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A), a person must obtain authorization from the appropriate federal court of appeals before filing a second or successive § 2255 motion in the district court. The court stated that Rodriguez therefore had to ask the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for permission to pursue the application. The opinion also states that any such motion must be based on newly discovered evidence or a new constitutional rule made retroactive by the Supreme Court.

Disposition

Judge Katherine Polk Failla ordered the Clerk of Court to transfer the motion to the Second Circuit under 28 U.S.C. § 1631 and closed the district-court case. The order stated that, if the Court of Appeals authorized Rodriguez to proceed, he could move to reopen the case under the same civil docket number. The court also ruled that no certificate of appealability would issue because the motion made no substantial showing that a constitutional right had been denied. It further certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.