Filed: Apr. 29, 2002
Latest Update: Feb. 21, 2020
Summary: IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 01-30913 Summary Calendar CURTIS L. WRIGHT, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus JO ANNE B. BARNHART, Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant-Appellee. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana (No. 99-CV-2178) _ April 26, 2002 Before DAVIS, BENAVIDES and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Plaintiff Curtis L. Wright appeals the denial of his application for disability insurance benefits and su
Summary: IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 01-30913 Summary Calendar CURTIS L. WRIGHT, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus JO ANNE B. BARNHART, Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant-Appellee. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana (No. 99-CV-2178) _ April 26, 2002 Before DAVIS, BENAVIDES and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Plaintiff Curtis L. Wright appeals the denial of his application for disability insurance benefits and sup..
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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
No. 01-30913
Summary Calendar
CURTIS L. WRIGHT,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
JO ANNE B. BARNHART,
Commissioner of Social Security,
Defendant-Appellee.
__________________________________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Louisiana
(No. 99-CV-2178)
________________________________________________
April 26, 2002
Before DAVIS, BENAVIDES and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
Plaintiff Curtis L. Wright appeals the denial of his
application for disability insurance benefits and supplemental
security income. Because Wright did not file a motion to reopen
the time for filing his appeal within seven days of receiving
*
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined
that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent
except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.
R. 47.5.4.
notice of the district court’s judgment, we lack appellate
jurisdiction and dismiss his appeal.
I.
The district court entered its judgment against Wright on
April 19, 2001. Wright filed a notice of appeal on June 19, 2001,
which we dismissed as untimely. On July 19, 2001, Wright submitted
to the district court a motion to reopen the time to file an appeal
pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(6). Wright
claimed that he did not receive a copy of the district court’s
judgment and did not learn of its entry until June 19, 2001, when
he logged onto PACER to check the status of his case.1 The
district court granted Wright’s motion, and he filed his second
notice of appeal on July 26, 2001.
II.
Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(6) allows a district
court to reopen the time to file an appeal if, among other
requirements, “the motion is filed within 180 days after the
judgment or order is entered or within 7 days after the moving
party receives notice of the entry, whichever is earlier.” FED. R.
APP. P. 4(a)(6)(A). Wright first learned of the entry of judgment
when he reviewed the docket sheet on PACER on June 19, 2001. The
government contends that Wright violated the seven-day deadline
1
PACER, or the Public Access to Court Electronic Records
System, is used by many federal courts to offer public access to
docket information over the internet.
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imposed by Rule 4(a)(6) because he filed his motion to reopen a
month after noticing the entry of judgment on the court’s docket.
Wright submits that the seven-day period is inapplicable because
viewing an electronic docket entry does not constitute notice under
the rule. We agree with the government and find that Wright’s July
19 motion is untimely.
In Wilkens v. Johnson,
238 F.3d 328, 332 (5th Cir. 2001), we
held that Rule 4(a)(6) does not “ascribe any particular qualities
or formalities to the words ‘receive’ or ‘notice’” and that “[a]ny
written notice of entry received by the potential appellant or his
counsel (or conceivably by some other person), regardless of how or
by whom sent, is sufficient to open subpart (A)’s seven-day
window.” Specifically, we found that an electronically transmitted
facsimile triggered the seven-day deadline for filing a motion to
reopen. Wilkens also favorably cites the Ninth Circuit’s decision
in Nunley v. City of Los Angeles,
52 F.3d 792, 794 (9th Cir. 1995),
which held that Rule 4(a)(6)’s seven-day period began to run when
the appellant’s attorney spotted the entry of judgment in the
court’s docket records, despite the lack of formal service or of a
hard copy of the notice.
We are unable to discern any distinguishing differences among
the notices in Wilkens, Nunley and the instant case. We approved
of the electronically transmitted facsimile notice in Wilkens and
of the notice given by the docket sheet in Nunley. Likewise, we
find that an electronic docket on PACER provides written, reliable
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notice. Since Wright failed to file his motion to reopen within
seven days of viewing the entry of judgment on PACER, we are
without jurisdiction to hear his appeal. Accordingly, the appeal
is DISMISSED.
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