Martin v. United States
- Valerie Caproni
- 1:22-cv-00305
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Martin v. United States, Judge Valerie Caproni stayed Martin’s second habeas petition and referred certification to the Second Circuit.
Kareem Martin’s second § 2255 petition was stayed and referred to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for certification. The district court civil case was closed, subject to possible reopening if the Court of Appeals authorized Martin to proceed.
What happened
Kareem Martin filed a second petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, seeking relief from his federal case and asking for an attorney. The law requires a person filing a second petition to first obtain permission from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
The court found that Martin did not appear to have requested that permission before filing. It treated his petition as a request for the Court of Appeals to authorize the filing, stayed the petition, and referred the request there. The district court closed the civil case and said Martin could ask to reopen it if the Court of Appeals authorized him to proceed.
Judge Valerie Caproni also declined to issue a certificate allowing an appeal and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees, finding that the appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order did not decide the substance of Martin’s petition.
The detailed version
- Martin v. United States · No. 1:22-cv-00305
- Valerie Caproni
- Jan. 13, 2022
Background
On December 13, 2021, Kareem Martin filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 and requested appointment of an attorney. The court construed the filing as a petition seeking relief under that statute. The Clerk opened civil case No. 22-CV-305 and docketed the petition there.
The court stated that this was Martin’s second § 2255 petition. Under § 2255(h), a person may file a later petition only after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit certifies that the petition meets the statutory requirements. The opinion stated that Martin did not appear to have sought that certification before filing his petition.
Court’s Action
The court stayed Martin’s petition. It treated the filing as a motion asking the Second Circuit for certification under § 2255(h) and directed the Clerk to refer the motion to the Clerk of the Second Circuit, because the Court of Appeals must decide certification requests.
The court directed the Clerk to close the open motion in Martin’s criminal case and to close civil case No. 22-CV-305. The court stated that, if the Second Circuit authorized Martin to proceed, he could move to reopen the civil case.
Appeal-Related Rulings
The court stated that Martin’s motion did not make a substantial showing that a constitutional right had been denied, so it would not issue a certificate of appealability. It also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.
The order did not reach the merits of Martin’s underlying § 2255 claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.