Ray L. Stevenson v. John Luetcher, John Richard Fiske, Scott Asplung, City of Green Bay, Tom Molitor, and Brown County

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin denied Ray L. Stevenson’s motion for reconsideration, motion to reopen the time to appeal, and motion to proceed on appeal without prepayment of the filing fee. The court held that the requests were untimely under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4 and certified that the appeal was not taken in good faith because the underlying claims were barred by Heck v. Humphrey.

Holdings

1. The court denied Stevenson's second motion for reconsideration and declined to reinstate the action for the reasons stated in its prior order.
2. The court could not extend the appeal period because Stevenson did not file his motion within the time permitted by Rule 4(a)(5)(A).
3. The court denied the motion to reopen the appeal period because it was untimely under Rule 4(a)(6).
4. The court certified that Stevenson's appeal was not taken in good faith and denied his motion to proceed without prepayment of the appellate filing fee.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the court should reconsider and reinstate the previously dismissed civil action.
2. Whether the court could extend the time to appeal under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(5) when the motion was filed after the sixty-day deadline.
3. Whether the court could reopen the time to appeal under Rule 4(a)(6) when the motion was filed more than fourteen days after the latest assumed receipt of notice and after the applicable deadline.
4. Whether Stevenson could proceed on appeal without prepaying the filing fee when the court certified that the appeal was not taken in good faith.

Disposition

other