White v. United States

Background

Alfred White, who the opinion states was incarcerated at FCI Fairton, filed a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 challenging the sentence imposed in his criminal case. He based the challenge on United States v. Davis, in which the Supreme Court held that the “residual clause” defining a violent felony in 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(B) was unconstitutionally vague.

The district court’s records showed that White had previously filed a § 2255 motion challenging the same conviction and sentence, and that the earlier motion had been decided on the merits. The court therefore treated the new filing as a “second or successive” § 2255 motion. Under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A), such a motion requires authorization from the appropriate federal appeals court before it may be filed in the district court. The opinion also noted that White had two motions pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit seeking permission to file a second or successive motion.

Ruling

The court did not decide whether White’s sentence challenge had merit or whether Davis applied to his sentence. Instead, in the interest of justice, it transferred the motion to the Second Circuit under 28 U.S.C. § 1631. The order closed the district-court case and stated that White could move to reopen it under the civil docket number if the Second Circuit authorized him to proceed.

The court also stated that the motion made no substantial showing that White had been denied a constitutional right, so a certificate of appealability would not issue. It certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees. The opinion does not state whether the Second Circuit had granted or denied White’s pending authorization motions.