Summary
The Ninth Circuit dismissed prison officials’ appeal for lack of jurisdiction because their notice of appeal was filed 150 days after entry of an order denying summary judgment based on qualified immunity. The court held that 28 U.S.C. § 2107(a) requires an appeal within 30 days after the order is entered on the civil docket, and that the Federal Rules cannot extend that statutory deadline for collateral orders lacking a separate document.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether defendants' notice of appeal from an order denying summary judgment based on qualified immunity was timely when filed 150 days after the order was entered on the civil docket.
- Whether Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(1)(A) and 4(a)(7)(A), together with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 58(a), extended the time to appeal a collateral order denying qualified immunity when no separate document was entered.
Holdings
- For an immediately appealable collateral order, entry occurs when the district court files the order on the civil docket, and the thirty-day appeal period under 28 U.S.C. § 2107(a) begins at that time.
- The Federal Rules of Civil and Appellate Procedure cannot extend the jurisdictional deadline established by § 2107(a); to the extent the Rules would allow more time to appeal a collateral order lacking a separate document, they conflict with the statute and are invalid.
- The appeal was untimely because defendants filed their notice of appeal 150 days after the May 22, 2023 docket entry, rather than within thirty days, so the Ninth Circuit lacked jurisdiction.
Key quotations
“Section 2107(a) controls here, and under the statute’s plain language, defendants must file a notice of appeal within 30 days after entry of an order denying qualified immunity.” (at 3)
“To the extent the Rules allow more time to appeal collateral orders with no corresponding separate document, the Rules conflict with the statute and are thus invalid.” (at 8)
“Under 28 U.S.C. § 2107(a)’s plain language, “entry” of an immediately appealable collateral order occurs when the district court files the order on the civil docket.” (at 11)
Factual background
Michael McNeil, an incarcerated person at Ely State Prison, was charged with smuggling drugs into the prison through the mail. During his disciplinary proceedings, prison officials denied his requests to view mail and a positive drug-test result, and a disciplinary committee found him guilty and imposed sanctions. McNeil sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging a Fourteenth Amendment due-process violation, and the district court denied defendants' motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity.
Procedural history
McNeil brought a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action alleging that prison officials violated his Fourteenth Amendment due-process rights by denying him access to evidence during a prison disciplinary proceeding. The parties cross-moved for summary judgment. The district court granted McNeil's motion in part, denied defendants' motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity, and entered the order on the civil docket on May 22, 2023. Defendants filed their notice of appeal 150 days later, on October 19, 2023.