Ahmed v. Miller
- Laura Swain
- 1:21-cv-08637
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Ahmed v. Miller, Judge Swain denied reconsideration because the transfer ended this court’s jurisdiction and denied appeal fee-waiver status.
Mohammad Mokhtar Ahmed, who must raise any challenge to the transfer or other request for relief in the Eastern District of New York; the defendants are not otherwise addressed on the merits.
What happened
In Ahmed v. Miller, Mohammad Mokhtar Ahmed, who was representing himself, asked the Southern District of New York to reconsider its order transferring his case to the Eastern District of New York.
The court explained that a court transferring a case generally loses authority over it once the receiving court gets the case papers. The Eastern District received this case before Ahmed filed his reconsideration request, so the Southern District could not review the transfer or decide other requests for relief.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied Ahmed’s reconsideration request and directed him to raise any challenge or other request in the Eastern District of New York. The court also denied him permission to proceed without paying court costs for an appeal and barred further filings under this docket number, except papers directed to the Second Circuit.
The detailed version
- Ahmed v. Miller · No. 1:21-cv-08637
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 3, 2022
Background
Mohammad Mokhtar Ahmed filed the action without a lawyer against John Miller, NYPD, Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, in his official capacity, and unidentified NYPD Intelligence Bureau officers in their official capacities. On October 26, 2021, the Southern District of New York transferred the case to the Eastern District of New York. The Eastern District acknowledged receipt and assigned the case docket number 21-CV-6086.
On December 26, 2021, Ahmed asked the Southern District to reconsider the transfer order.
Reasoning
The court held that transferring a case generally removes the transferring court’s authority over the action. The transferring court retains authority to review the transfer only if the party seeking review acts to stop the transfer before the receiving court gets the case papers. Here, the case was electronically transferred on October 26, 2021, and the Eastern District acknowledged receipt on November 2, 2021. Ahmed filed his reconsideration request about two months after the transfer.
Because the Southern District no longer had authority over the action, it stated that Ahmed had to challenge the transfer in the Eastern District of New York. Any other request for relief also had to be made there.
Ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied Ahmed’s request for reconsideration. The Clerk of Court was directed not to accept further submissions under the Southern District docket number, except papers directed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Ahmed permission to proceed without paying court costs for the appeal.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.