Velez v. Paredez
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-02399
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Velez v. Paredez, Judge Swain denied reconsideration because transfer ended this court’s jurisdiction and closed the action.
Michael-Tony Velez’s reconsideration request was denied because the case had already been transferred to the Northern District of New York. Any challenge to the transfer or request for other relief had to be made there; the Southern District of New York closed its action and limited further filings.
What happened
In Velez v. Paredez, Michael-Tony Velez asked the Southern District of New York to reconsider its April 12, 2022, order transferring his case to the Northern District of New York. He filed that request on July 5, 2022, after the receiving court had acknowledged the transfer and assigned the case a new docket number.
The court explained that a court that transfers a case generally loses authority over it once the case papers reach the receiving court. It said Velez must challenge the transfer or request any other relief in the Northern District of New York. This order did not decide the underlying claims.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied Velez’s request for reconsideration and closed the action in the Southern District of New York. The clerk would accept only documents directed to the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the court denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.
The detailed version
- Velez v. Paredez · No. 1:22-cv-02399
- Laura Swain
- July 5, 2022
Background
Michael-Tony Velez filed the action without a lawyer. On April 12, 2022, the Southern District of New York ordered the case transferred to the Northern District of New York. The case was electronically transferred that day. On April 20, 2022, the Northern District of New York acknowledged receiving it and assigned docket number 9:22-CV-0362.
On July 5, 2022, Velez sent the Southern District of New York a letter seeking reconsideration of the transfer order. The opinion states that the letter was received as ECF 6, while the conclusion identifies the denied request as ECF 5.
Reasoning
The court held that transferring a case divests the transferring court of authority over the action. The transferring court retains that authority only when a party seeking review acts to stay the transfer before the receiving court’s clerk receives the case papers. Because the Northern District of New York had received the case more than two months before Velez sought reconsideration, the Southern District of New York concluded that it no longer had authority to consider the challenge.
The court therefore directed Velez to raise any challenge to the transfer, and to seek any other relief, in the Northern District of New York. The court did not address the underlying claims or decide the merits of the case.
Ruling and Effect
Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied Velez’s request for reconsideration. The action was closed in the Southern District of New York. The clerk was directed to accept only documents directed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The court also stated that it would require Velez to explain why he should not be barred from filing further documents in this action if he submitted documents that were frivolous or meritless.
The court certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying the required filing fees. The order does not state that the Northern District of New York closed the transferred case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.