DeBlasio v. New York City Health and Hospital Corporation Brenda Harris, M.D.
- Edgardo Ramos
- 1:18-cv-11405
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In DeBlasio v. New York City Health and Hospital Corporation, Judge Ramos denied DeBlasio’s request to extend the deadline for appealing his dismissed case.
The ruling affected DeBlasio’s request for additional time to appeal the earlier dismissal of his case; it did not decide the underlying claims in this order.
What happened
In Philip E. DeBLASIO v. New York City Health and Hospital Corporation and Dr. Brenda Harris, DeBlasio, who was incarcerated and representing himself, asked for more time to appeal the court’s March 27, 2020 order dismissing his case.
The court explained that an appeal notice generally must be filed within 30 days after a final judgment. It may extend that deadline when the request is timely and the party shows a valid reason, such as excusable neglect or good cause. DeBlasio’s motion gave no reason for the requested extension.
Judge Edgardo Ramos found that DeBlasio had not shown any reason for an extension and denied the motion. The clerk was directed to terminate the motion.
The detailed version
- DeBlasio v. New York City Health and Hospital Corporation Brenda Harris, M.D. · No. 1:18-cv-11405
- Edgardo Ramos
- May 20, 2020
Background
DeBlasio, who was incarcerated and proceeding without a lawyer, moved for an extension of time to file a notice of appeal from the court’s March 27, 2020 opinion and order dismissing his case. That earlier order had also stated that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and that DeBlasio would be denied permission to proceed without paying filing fees for purposes of an appeal.
Legal standard
The court stated that a notice of appeal from a final judgment normally must be filed within 30 days after the judgment is entered. Under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(5)(A), a district court may extend the deadline if the motion is filed within 30 days after the original deadline and the party shows excusable neglect or good cause.
Ruling
Judge Edgardo Ramos found that DeBlasio’s motion was an empty form that gave no reason for the requested extension. The court concluded that DeBlasio had not shown any reason to extend the appeal deadline, much less excusable neglect or good cause. The court denied the motion and directed the clerk to terminate it.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.