Wright v. Jamison

Background

William Harold Wright, Jr. filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 without a lawyer, challenging his conviction in the Middle District of Florida. The Southern District of New York previously determined that Wright was challenging the validity of his sentence rather than how the sentence was being carried out. It therefore concluded that 28 U.S.C. § 2255 was the proper procedure and ordered the case transferred to the Middle District of Florida, where Wright had been convicted and sentenced.

The case was electronically transferred on March 1, 2023, and the Middle District of Florida acknowledged receiving it on March 13, 2023. The Florida court assigned the case docket number 8:23-CV-0539. The opinion also notes that Wright had filed an earlier § 2255 motion in the Middle District of Florida, which that court denied on February 15, 2023.

Motion for Reconsideration

Wright filed a motion for reconsideration dated March 24, 2023. He appeared to challenge both the New York court’s transfer order and the Middle District of Florida’s denial of his earlier § 2255 motion.

The court explained that transferring a case generally removes the transferring court’s authority over the action. The transferring court keeps that authority only when the party seeking review acts to pause the transfer before the receiving court gets the case papers. Here, the Middle District of Florida had acknowledged receipt before Wright filed the motion for reconsideration. The Southern District of New York therefore no longer had authority to decide challenges to the transfer or to the Florida court’s denial of the § 2255 motion.

Ruling

The court denied Wright’s motion for reconsideration. It stated that any challenge to the transfer, and any other relief—including relief from the Middle District of Florida’s denial of the § 2255 motion—had to be requested in the appropriate action in the Middle District of Florida.

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 also determined that a certificate of appealability would not issue because the petition made no substantial showing that a constitutional right had been denied. It further certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for purposes of an appeal.