Noble v. Warden John/Jane Doe
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-11062
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
Noble v. Warden John/Jane Doe: Judge Swain transferred Noble’s conviction challenge from the Southern to Eastern District of New York.
Jerome Noble’s federal petition was transferred to the Eastern District of New York; the Southern District of New York case was closed, and the transferee court was left to decide whether he could proceed without paying fees.
What happened
Noble v. Warden John/Jane Doe concerns Jerome Noble’s unrepresented petition asking a federal court to review the constitutionality of his 2023 conviction in Kings County, New York.
Noble is incarcerated at the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island. Because he was convicted and sentenced in Kings County, the court determined that the Eastern District of New York was the proper federal court to handle the petition.
The court transferred the action to the Eastern District of New York and closed it in the Southern District of New York. Judge Swain also declined to issue a certificate allowing an appeal and denied fee-free status for any appeal.
The detailed version
- Noble v. Warden John/Jane Doe · No. 1:23-cv-11062
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 22, 2024
Background
Jerome Noble, who is incarcerated at the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island, filed an unrepresented petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging the constitutionality of his 2023 conviction in the New York Supreme Court, Kings County. The petition was filed against Warden John/Jane Doe.
Transfer
The court transferred the action under Local Rule 83.3 to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The stated reason was that Kings County, where Noble was convicted and sentenced, is located in the Eastern District. The order did not decide whether Noble’s conviction was unconstitutional or otherwise reach the merits of his petition.
Disposition
The Clerk was directed to transfer the action, and the order closed the case in the Southern District of New York. The court stated that the transferee court would decide whether Noble could continue without paying fees. The court also declined to issue a certificate of appealability because Noble had not made a substantial showing that a constitutional right was denied. It certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.