Court, Explained
U.S. Federal District Courts
←Back to docket
S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled July 29, 2022

Valentine v. United States

Judge
Laura Swain
Docket
1:22-cv-06077
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
1
Civil ProcedureCriminalPro Se
In one sentence

In Valentine v. United States, Judge Swain closed the incorrectly opened civil action and ordered the motion filed in Valentine’s criminal case.

Who this affects

Hector Valentine’s motion was redirected from this civil action to his criminal case; the United States is the respondent.

What happened

Hector Valentine, who is incarcerated, filed a motion under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(B) without a lawyer. The motion was incorrectly opened as a new civil case, Valentine v. United States.

The court directed the Clerk of Court to close this action administratively and file the motion in United States v. Valentine, with a July 15, 2022 file date. The order therefore closed this civil action without deciding the requested relief.

The court also said that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees. Chief United States District Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued the order.

The detailed version

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

Case
Valentine v. United States · No. 1:22-cv-06077
Judge
Laura Swain
Date
July 29, 2022

Background

Hector Valentine, identified as the movant, is incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution Allenwood Medium in White Deer, Pennsylvania. He filed a motion without a lawyer seeking relief under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(B). The motion was opened incorrectly as a new civil action.

Court’s Action

The court directed the Clerk of Court to administratively close the civil action and file Valentine’s motion in United States v. Valentine, No. 7:11-CR-0626 (CS), using July 15, 2022, as the file date. The order did not decide the merits of Valentine’s request for relief.

Appeal-Fee Determination and Disposition

The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to appeal without prepaying the filing fees. Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that the civil action be closed.

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.