Lee v. United States
- Loretta Preska
- 1:18-cv-01856
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Lee v. United States, Judge Preska denied a certificate of appealability and payment-free appeal status after Lee appealed his sentence-vacatur ruling.
Delroy Lee’s attempt to appeal the ruling on his sentence-vacatur motion; the United States is the respondent.
What happened
Delroy Lee appealed the court’s earlier ruling on his request to vacate his sentence under a federal law allowing certain federal prisoners to challenge their sentences. That earlier ruling granted his request in part and denied it in part.
The court refused to issue a certificate of appealability because Lee had not made the required substantial showing that his constitutional rights were denied. Without that certificate, the appeal could not proceed on that basis.
Senior United States District Judge Loretta A. Preska also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Lee permission to proceed without paying court fees for the appeal.
The detailed version
- Lee v. United States · No. 1:18-cv-01856
- Loretta Preska
- Oct. 6, 2023
Background
Delroy Lee submitted a notice of appeal concerning the court’s earlier opinion and order on his motion to vacate his sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. The earlier order granted that motion in part and denied it in part. The opinion does not describe the specific parts of the sentence-vacatur motion that were granted or denied.
Rulings
The court ruled that no certificate of appealability would issue. A certificate of appealability is court authorization required for certain appeals concerning a federal prisoner’s sentence or conviction. The court found that Lee had made no substantial showing that a constitutional right had been denied.
The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied Lee in forma pauperis status for the appeal, meaning permission to pursue the appeal without paying the required court costs in advance. Senior United States District Judge Loretta A. Preska entered the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.