Leonard Jenkins v. Judge James R. Knepp II and Malcolm Heard

Summary

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio overruled Leonard Jenkins’s objections to a magistrate judge’s Report and Recommendation in his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas case. The court held that the petition was second or successive, adopted the Report and Recommendation, granted the motion to transfer, and transferred the petition to the Sixth Circuit for authorization under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A).

Holdings

1. Objections that do not address the magistrate judge's recommended disposition and instead merely restate unrelated claims do not constitute proper specific objections requiring de novo review.
2. Because Jenkins had previously filed a § 2254 petition, the present petition was second or successive and had to be transferred to the Sixth Circuit for consideration under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A).

Questions Presented

1. Whether Jenkins's objections to the magistrate judge's Report and Recommendation were sufficiently specific to trigger de novo review.
2. Whether the present § 2254 petition was a second or successive petition subject to 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A).
3. Whether the district court should transfer the petition to the Sixth Circuit under 28 U.S.C. § 1631.

Disposition

other