Rivera v. Annucci
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-04787
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Rivera v. Annucci, Judge Swain denied Rivera’s appeal-extension motion as unnecessary and denied permission to appeal without paying fees.
William Rivera, whose request for more time to appeal was denied as unnecessary and whose permission to appeal without paying filing fees was denied.
What happened
In Rivera v. Annucci, the court had already dismissed William Rivera’s action under a federal statute and as time-barred. Rivera then asked for more time to file an appeal and filed a notice of appeal.
The court said the deadline for a civil appeal had not yet expired when Rivera requested the extension. Because an extension was unnecessary, the court denied the request on that basis.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied Rivera permission to appeal without paying filing fees, finding that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith. The court’s order did not reopen the dismissed action.
The detailed version
- Rivera v. Annucci · No. 1:22-cv-04787
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 14, 2023
Background
On October 25, 2022, the court dismissed this action under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B)(ii) and as time-barred. On November 18, 2022, William Rivera filed a motion for an extension of time to file a notice of appeal and also filed a notice of appeal.
Court’s reasoning
Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(1)(A) generally requires a notice of appeal in a civil case to be filed within 30 days after judgment. The court explained that the deadline had not expired when Rivera filed his motion. It therefore concluded that his request for an extension was unnecessary.
The opinion’s footnote states that the Court of Appeals later dismissed Rivera’s appeal by a mandate issued June 15, 2023, because it found no arguable basis in law or fact. That earlier appellate action was not the ruling being decided in this order.
Ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied Rivera’s motion for an extension of time to file a notice of appeal as unnecessary. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.