McCray v. Superintendent

Background

Robert L. McCray, who was representing himself and was incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility, initially sent the court a letter and attachments requesting more time to file a federal petition challenging his Bronx County conviction. He attributed the request to difficulties mailing the petition from prison.

The court directed McCray either to pay the $5 filing fee or submit an application to proceed without paying that fee. McCray submitted the application. Before then, however, the court had received an actual petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. That petition opened a separate case, McCray v. Royce, No. 1:20-CV-4127, in which McCray had been allowed to proceed without paying the filing fee. The separate case was pending before District Judge Katherine Polk Failla and had been referred to Magistrate Judge Katherine H. Parker.

Court’s Action

The court concluded that McCray appeared to have successfully filed the habeas petition for which he had requested more time in this action. It therefore ordered him to show cause—meaning explain—within 30 days why this action should not be dismissed without prejudice to his habeas claims in the separate case. The court did not dismiss this action in the order. It stated that if McCray failed to respond within the allowed time, it would dismiss this action without prejudice to those claims.

The court also stated that the petition made no substantial showing that McCray’s constitutional rights had been denied, so it would not issue a certificate of appealability. It certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying the appellate filing fee.

Significance

This was a procedural order, not a decision on whether McCray’s conviction or habeas claims were legally valid. The court addressed the apparent overlap between two actions and required McCray to respond before deciding whether to dismiss this one. Judge Colleen McMahon signed the order.