Walker v. Wolcott
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-07812
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Walker v. Wolcott, Judge McMahon denied transfer but granted withdrawal, dismissing the custody petition without prejudice.
Moustapha Walker’s custody challenge was ended in this case, while the dismissal without prejudice left him able to file a § 2241 petition in the Western District of New York; Julie Wolcott remained the named respondent.
What happened
In Walker v. Wolcott, Moustapha Walker challenged his custody through a federal petition filed under a law allowing prisoners to contest detention. The court had directed him to submit a request to proceed without paying the filing fee or pay the $5 filing fee.
Walker told the court that he had sent the petition to the wrong court. He asked the court to transfer the case to the Western District of New York or, alternatively, let him withdraw it. The court said he could file a new petition in that district but did not address whether his custody challenge had merit.
Judge Colleen McMahon denied the transfer request and granted Walker’s request to withdraw the case. The court voluntarily dismissed the petition without prejudice, closed the case, declined to issue a certificate of appealability, and denied permission to appeal without paying the filing fee.
The detailed version
- Walker v. Wolcott · No. 1:20-cv-07812
- Colleen McMahon
- Oct. 14, 2020
Background
Moustapha Walker, who was incarcerated at Orleans Correctional Facility, filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 challenging his custody. The court ordered him to submit a completed application to proceed without paying the filing fee or pay the required $5 fee.
Walker responded that he had sent the petition to the wrong court. He asked the court to transfer the case to the United States District Court for the Western District of New York or, alternatively, to allow him to withdraw the petition. Walker also stated that he had filed the petition in connection with a pending petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The court noted that the receipt Walker provided appeared to concern the filing fee for that other case, not this action.
Ruling
The court denied Walker’s request to transfer the case to the Western District of New York and granted his request to withdraw the action under Rule 41(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The court stated that Walker could pursue relief under § 2241 by filing a petition in the Western District of New York, but it expressed no opinion on the grounds for relief.
The petition was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice. The order closed the case and terminated all other pending matters. The court also stated that the petition did not make a substantial showing that a constitutional right had been denied, so a certificate of appealability would not issue. It certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying the filing fee.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.