WILLIAM S. DUFFEY, Jr. District Judge.
This matter is before the Court on Cleveland Hankerson's ("Petitioner") Motion to `Correct' the Record and Notice of Appeal [20], which the Court construes as a motion for reconsideration of its Order of March 2, 2012 [19].
On March 8, 2011, Petitioner, a federal prisoner, filed his federal habeas petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 seeking relief under the savings clause of Section 2255(e) [1].
On November 2, 2011, Magistrate Judge C. Christopher Hagy issued his Final Report and Recommendation ("R&R") and recommended that Petitioner's Section 2241 petition be dismissed [10]. In his well-reasoned conclusions and recommendations, the Magistrate Judge explained that the petition must be dismissed because: (1) Petitioner cannot satisfy one of the required elements to bring his claims under the savings clause because he cannot demonstrate that he was convicted of a nonexistent offense; (2) Petitioner may not use the savings clause to bring a sentencing claim where the sentence imposed on him did not exceed the statutory maximum; and (3) Petitioner may not invoke the manifest injustice exception by arguing actual innocence because he cannot be actually innocent of the career offender enhancement. (R&R at 9).
On November 16, 2011, Petitioner timely filed his objections [11]. The Court liberally construed Petitioner's pro se filing as objecting to the following findings and conclusions of the Magistrate Judge: (1) that the statutory maximum for his offenses was life imprisonment plus five years; (2) that the sentence imposed did not exceed the statutory maximum for the counts upon which Petitioner was found guilty; (3) that he failed to establish the three required elements under the law of the Eleventh Circuit to bring his claims under the savings clause; and (4) that the fundamental miscarriage of justice exception for actual innocence does not apply to his challenge to the procedural application of a career offender sentencing enhancement.
On December 22, 2011, the Court adopted the Magistrate Judge's Final R&R, overruled Petitioner's objections, and dismissed his Section 2241 petition [12]. The Court found Petitioner could not demonstrate that relief under Section 2255 would be inadequate or ineffective so as to warrant consideration of his Section 2241 petition under the savings clause because Petitioner filed an untimely petition, failed to satisfy the requirements of the savings clause, improperly sought to challenge his sentence using Section 2241 where he was not sentenced above his statutory maximum of life imprisonment plus five years, and the actual innocence exception does not apply to his case.
On December 29, 2011,
On March 2, 2012, the Court issued its Order denying Petitioner's requests for a Certificate of Appealability and to proceed IFP on appeal [19].
On March 13, 2012, Petitioner filed his Motion to `Correct' the Record and Notice of Appeal [20], which the Court construes as a motion for reconsideration of its Order of March 2, 2012 [19]. Petitioner claims that pursuant to
Petitioner timely sought reconsideration of the Court's Order within twenty-eight days in accordance with the Local Rules. Local Rule 7.2 E., N.D. Ga. Petitioner has demonstrated a need to correct a clear error of law because the Court construed Petitioner's Notice of Appeal as appealing the denial of a Section 2255 petition, instead of considering it as an appeal from the denial of his Section 2241 petition.
Petitioner requests to appeal IFP. Applications to appeal IFP are governed by 28 U.S.C. § 1915 and Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 24. Section 1915 provides:
Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 24 provides:
Two requirements therefore must be satisfied for a party to prosecute an appeal IFP. First, the party must show an inability to pay. Second, the appeal must be brought in good faith.
Petitioner has submitted an affidavit demonstrating his inability to pay the filing fee required for an appeal and the Court finds that Petitioner meets this prong of an IFP showing.
An appeal, however, may not be taken IFP if the trial court certifies, either before or after the notice of appeal is filed, that the appeal is not taken in good faith. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3); Fed. R. App. P. 24(a)(3). A party demonstrates good faith by seeking appellate review of any issue that is not frivolous when judged under an objective standard.
Both Section 1915(a) and Rule 24(a)(1) require the individual seeking to appeal IFP to submit a statement of good faith issues to be appealed.
Having reviewed Petitioner's single-page Notice of Appeal [14] and in the absence of any other filing stating the issues on which Petitioner seeks to appeal, the Court finds that Petitioner has not shown this his appeal presents a legal issue of arguable merit that could be convincingly argued and Petitioner's request to proceed on appeal IFP is required to be denied.
For the foregoing reasons,