Williams v. United States
- Richard Sullivan
- 1:20-cv-01554
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
Williams v. United States: Judge Sullivan denied John Todd Williams’s requests to proceed without paying fees as moot and denied appeal-related fee status.
John Todd Williams, whose requests to proceed without paying fees were denied as moot in connection with his § 2255 motion and notice of appeal, and whose request for that status for an appeal from this order was denied.
What happened
In Williams v. United States, John Todd Williams asked to proceed without paying filing fees in connection with his sentence challenge and a notice of appeal.
The court said a sentence challenge under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 requires no filing fee, so it denied that request as moot. It also denied as moot his request related to his notice of appeal because the appeal challenged a nonfinal order that was not certified for immediate appeal. The court further denied fee status for any appeal from this order.
Judge Richard J. Sullivan issued the order on August 5, 2020, and directed the Clerk of Court to mail it to Williams and record service on the docket.
The detailed version
- Williams v. United States · No. 1:20-cv-01554
- Richard Sullivan
- Aug. 5, 2020
Background
John Todd Williams asked to proceed without paying court fees under 28 U.S.C. § 1915 in connection with his pending motion to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. He also sought that status for a notice of appeal. The order was filed in both the civil and criminal dockets, although the court reminded the parties that future filings should include the criminal docket number and be filed only in the criminal case.
District-court filing-fee request
The court explained that a § 2255 motion does not require a filing fee under Rule 3 of the Rules Governing Section 2255 Proceedings. It therefore denied as moot Williams’s request to proceed without paying fees insofar as it concerned the § 2255 motion in the district court.
Notice of appeal
Williams filed a notice of appeal from an order declining to grant his § 2255 motion based on the government’s alleged failure to respond. The court held that the notice of appeal was defective because it challenged a nonfinal order that had not been certified for an immediate appeal. As a result, the district court retained jurisdiction, and the court denied as moot Williams’s request to proceed without paying fees in connection with that notice of appeal.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied fee status for an appeal from this order. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail Williams a copy of the order and note service on the docket.
Disposition
The court denied as moot the request to proceed without paying fees for the § 2255 motion, denied as moot the request related to the pending notice of appeal, and denied fee status for an appeal from this order. Judge Richard J. Sullivan, a United States Circuit Judge sitting by designation, signed the order.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.