Banks v. Warden Sing SIng Prison

Background

Frederick Banks, who was representing himself, filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 seeking release because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was detained at the Alleghany County Jail in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Banks also purported to file the petition for thousands of inmates at Sing Sing Prison and the Alleghany County Jail, both on his own behalf and as a representative for them.

Banks’s Own Petition

The court explained that a petition challenging a person’s physical confinement generally must be heard in the federal district where the person is confined because the court must have jurisdiction over the person’s custodian. The Alleghany County Jail is in the Western District of Pennsylvania. The court therefore transferred Banks’s petition concerning his own detention to the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), which permits transfer when it is in the interest of justice.

Claims on Behalf of Other People

The court stated that it had repeatedly instructed Banks that he could not bring an action on behalf of other individuals. To the extent he sought relief for anyone other than himself, the court denied the petition.

Disposition

The court directed the clerk to transfer the action to the Western District of Pennsylvania and stated that the transferee court would decide whether Banks could proceed without paying fees. The order closed the case in the Southern District of New York. Chief United States District Judge Colleen McMahon also ruled that a certificate of appealability would not issue because Banks had not made a substantial showing that a constitutional right had been denied. The court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. The order did not decide the merits of whether Banks should be released.