Walter T. Gause v. Leslie Cooley Dismukes

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina construed Walter T. Gause's filing under the All Writs Act as a petition for habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The court dismissed the petition as an unauthorized successive petition because Gause had not obtained authorization from the Fourth Circuit under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A), declined to issue a certificate of appealability, and directed that Leslie Cooley Dismukes be substituted as respondent.

Holdings

1. The court construed Petitioner's submission styled under the All Writs Act as a petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
2. A second or successive § 2254 petition may not be filed in the district court without prior authorization from the appropriate court of appeals; absent that authorization, the district court lacks jurisdiction and must dismiss the petition.
3. The court declined to issue a certificate of appealability.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the filing should be construed as a petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
2. Whether the petition was an unauthorized successive habeas petition requiring dismissal because Petitioner had not obtained authorization from the appropriate court of appeals.
3. Whether a certificate of appealability should issue.

Disposition

dismissed