Glover v. Superintendent, SCI Coal Township

Summary

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania dismissed Justin Anthony Glover, Jr.’s second-in-time 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition without prejudice for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The court held that Glover was required to obtain authorization from the Third Circuit before filing a second or successive habeas petition, declined to transfer the matter, denied a certificate of appealability, and dismissed his motion to stay as moot.

Holdings

1. A second-in-time § 2254 petition raising new claims not included in a previously adjudicated federal habeas petition is a second or successive petition under the AEDPA, even when filed as a protective petition while state post-conviction proceedings are pending.
2. A district court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to entertain a second or successive § 2254 petition unless the petitioner first obtains authorization from the appropriate court of appeals under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3).
3. The district court declined to transfer the petition to the Third Circuit and dismissed it without prejudice, leaving Glover to seek authorization directly from the appropriate court of appeals.
4. A certificate of appealability shall not issue because Glover did not make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right or show that reasonable jurists could debate the court's procedural ruling.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Glover's second-in-time § 2254 petition was a second or successive habeas application subject to 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b).
2. Whether the district court had jurisdiction to consider the petition absent authorization from the Third Circuit.
3. Whether the petition should be transferred to the Third Circuit for authorization.
4. Whether Glover's motion to hold the federal proceedings in abeyance pending exhaustion of state remedies should be granted.
5. Whether a certificate of appealability should issue.

Disposition

dismissed