Walden v. Walcott

Background

John Walden filed a petition challenging his December 1, 2017 New York County conviction under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 in an earlier Southern District of New York case, Walden I, No. 19-CV-11409. That case remained pending before Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn. On August 21, 2020, Judge Netburn denied Walden’s motion to strike the respondent’s notice of appearance, requests for a mandatory conference, and requests to amend the docket.

Walden later filed this action under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 in the Western District of New York. The Western District transferred it to the Southern District of New York under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), concluding that the filing challenged Walden’s underlying conviction and a decision in Walden I. The Western District then denied Walden’s request to reconsider that transfer.

Court’s action

After receiving the case, the Southern District reviewed the filing and concluded that it should not have been opened as a new action. The court construed it as a motion for reconsideration of Judge Netburn’s August 21, 2020 order in Walden I.

The court directed the Clerk to docket the filing as a reconsideration motion in Walden I, docket a copy of this order there, and administratively close Walden II, No. 20-CV-8841. The court did not decide the merits of the reconsideration motion or Walden’s challenge to his conviction in this order.

Disposition

Chief Judge Colleen McMahon directed the administrative steps described above. The court also certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Walden permission to appeal without paying filing fees. This order therefore changed how the filing was docketed and closed the separate action; it did not grant or deny the underlying reconsideration request.