Harris v. Tonkin
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:21-cv-01246
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Harris v. Pike County Court of Common Pleas, Judge McMahon denied reconsideration after transfer and terminated other requests because the court lacked jurisdiction.
Keeba Scott Harris, who must pursue any challenge to the transfer or other requested relief in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; the other pending requests were terminated.
What happened
Harris v. Pike County Court of Common Pleas involved a request to reconsider the transfer of the case to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Plaintiff Keeba Scott Harris also asked to add the Pennsylvania Attorney General and sought emergency court orders.
The Southern District of New York explained that transferring a case ends the transferring court’s authority over it unless the transfer is stayed before the receiving court gets the case papers. The case was electronically transferred on February 16, 2021, before Harris filed her reconsideration request.
Judge Colleen McMahon denied Harris’s reconsideration request and terminated the other pending requests. The court directed Harris to raise any challenge to the transfer or request for other relief in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and denied permission to appeal without paying fees because the appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Harris v. Tonkin · No. 1:21-cv-01246
- Colleen McMahon
- Mar. 16, 2021
Background
Keeba Scott Harris filed the action without a lawyer. On February 16, 2021, the Southern District of New York transferred the matter to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. On March 4, 2021, Harris asked the court to reconsider the transfer order. On March 10, 2021, she filed a petition seeking to add the Pennsylvania Attorney General and requesting a temporary restraining order and/or preliminary injunction.
Jurisdiction after transfer
The court explained that transferring a case generally removes the transferring court’s authority to decide matters in the case. The transferring court retains authority to review the transfer only if the party seeking review acts to stay the transfer before the receiving court’s clerk receives the case papers. Here, the Clerk of Court electronically transferred the case to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on the same day the transfer was ordered. Harris filed her reconsideration request approximately two weeks later.
Rulings
Because the Southern District of New York no longer had jurisdiction over the action, the court stated that Harris had to challenge the transfer in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. It also stated that any other relief had to be requested there. The court denied Harris’s request for reconsideration of the transfer order. It terminated all other pending matters, including the March 10 petition. The Clerk was directed not to accept further submissions under this docket number except papers directed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees. Judge Colleen McMahon signed the order on March 16, 2021.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.