Fearon v. Montagari
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-02557
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Fearon v. Montagari, Judge Swain transferred Sinai Fearon’s habeas petition to the Eastern District of New York and denied fee-free appeal status.
Sinai Fearon’s federal challenge to his Queens County conviction was transferred from the Southern District of New York to the Eastern District of New York; the receiving court was left to decide whether he could proceed without paying fees.
What happened
In Fearon v. Montagari, Sinai Fearon, who was incarcerated and had no lawyer, filed a petition challenging his conviction in Queens County, New York.
Because Queens County is in the Eastern District of New York, the court ordered the case transferred there under a local court rule. The court closed the action in the Southern District of New York, leaving the decision about proceeding without paying fees to the receiving court.
Judge Swain also ruled that no certificate allowing an appeal would issue because Fearon had not made the required showing of a constitutional violation. She denied fee-free status for any appeal and certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Fearon v. Montagari · No. 1:23-cv-02557
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 4, 2023
Background
Sinai Fearon, who was incarcerated at Mohawk Correctional Facility and represented himself, filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging his conviction in the New York Supreme Court, Queens County. The respondent is identified in the caption as A. Montagari.
Transfer
The court explained that Queens County is located in the Eastern District of New York. Under Local Civil Rule 83.3, it directed the Clerk of Court to transfer the action to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The court stated that the receiving court would decide whether Fearon could proceed without paying fees. The order closed the action in the Southern District of New York.
Appeal-related rulings
The court stated that Fearon had not made a substantial showing that a constitutional right had been denied, so a certificate of appealability would not issue under 28 U.S.C. § 2253. 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 fee-free status for purposes of an appeal.
Disposition
The court transferred the action to the Eastern District of New York and closed it in the Southern District of New York. It did not decide the merits of Fearon’s challenge to his conviction.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.