Adams v. Thomas

United States District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin · August 5, 2025 · No. 1:25-cv-00929

Summary

This is a United States District Court order granting Prentiss T. Adams’s motion to proceed without prepayment of the filing fee in his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The court finds that Adams has exhausted his state court remedies, filed within the statutory time limit, and raised at least one plausibly cognizable claim, thereby preventing dismissal under Rule 4. The order establishes a strict briefing schedule for the respondent’s answer, the parties’ briefs, and any potential motion to dismiss, directing all filings to the Clerk of Court.

Court
United States District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin
Writing for the Court
Byron B. Conway
Jurisdiction
United States District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin
Decision date
August 5, 2025
Docket number
1:25-cv-00929
Procedural posture
Petitioner filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Eastern District of Wisconsin after exhausting state court remedies.
Precedential value
nonprecedential
Disposition
other

Topics

federal habeas corpuspost-conviction reliefmotions to dismissstanding

Practice areas

criminal procedure

Questions Presented

  1. Whether the petitioner is entitled to a waiver of the filing fee for the habeas petition
  2. Whether the petition should be dismissed as plainly apparent that the petitioner is not entitled to relief

Holdings

  1. The motion to proceed without prepayment of the filing fee is granted.
  2. The petition is not dismissed; the respondent must answer and the case will proceed on the written record.

Key quotations

Based on the information contained in his motion, Adams lacks the resources to pay the filing fee and therefore his motion is granted.

Factual background

Prentiss T. Adams is incarcerated pursuant to a Wisconsin circuit court judgment. He filed a federal habeas petition and a motion to proceed without prepayment of the filing fee, asserting lack of resources. The court found his fee waiver motion warranted and noted his exhaustion of state remedies.

Procedural history

Adams pursued relief in the Wisconsin Court of Appeals and Wisconsin Supreme Court, thereby exhausting state remedies, and then filed a federal habeas petition without having previously sought federal habeas relief.

Court Document

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