Court, Explained
U.S. Federal District Courts
←Back to docket
S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Dec. 16, 2020

Rojas v. United States

Judge
Jesse Furman
Docket
1:16-cv-03922
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
1
Civil ProcedureCriminal
In one sentence

In Rojas v. United States, Judge Furman entered an order of dismissal, denied a certificate of appealability, and denied permission to appeal without paying fees.

Who this affects

Daniel Rojas and the United States; the order also addressed Rojas’s ability to obtain a certificate of appealability and to appeal without paying filing fees.

What happened

In Rojas v. United States, Daniel Rojas sent the court a letter about his request to have New York State authorities cancel a parole detainer. The letter did not appear to ask the federal court for relief.

The court said the complaint concerned state authorities rather than Rojas’s federal sentence. It therefore took no action on the letter and entered an order of dismissal. The court also said an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying fees.

Judge Jesse M. Furman denied a certificate of appealability because Rojas had not made a substantial showing that a constitutional right was denied. The opinion does not describe the specific motion or claim underlying the civil case beyond the letter discussed in the order.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Rojas v. United States · No. 1:16-cv-03922
Judge
Jesse Furman
Date
Dec. 16, 2020

Background

Daniel Rojas, identified in the caption as the movant and defendant, sent the court a letter stating that he had asked the New York State Parole Division to quash a New York State “parole detainer.” The court noted that the letter did not appear to request relief from the federal court. It also said that the substance of the complaint concerned the conduct of state authorities, not Rojas’s federal sentence.

The opinion includes a related criminal docket number, 11-CR-208 (JMF), and notes that the matter had been reassigned to Judge Furman on May 26, 2016, after Judge Scheindlin retired. The opinion does not otherwise identify the specific motion or legal claim underlying the civil docket.

Ruling

The court entered an order of dismissal and stated that it would take no action in connection with Rojas’s letter. It did not decide the substance of the state parole-detainer issue or the federal sentence.

The court denied a certificate of appealability because Rojas had not made a substantial showing that a constitutional right was denied. A certificate of appealability is permission required for certain appeals in federal post-conviction proceedings. The court also certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying filing fees.

Disposition

The Clerk of Court was directed to mail Rojas a copy of the order at the address listed in the opinion.

The authoritative version

Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
Summary written with AI assistance. See how summaries are made. Spot something wrong? Tell us.