Opinion
CAUSE NO. 3:17-CV-876-PPS
11-30-2017
VINCENT JAMES, Petitioner, v. WARDEN, Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER
Vincent James, a petitioner without an attorney, filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his convictions and sentence by the Porter Superior Court on February 28, 1991, under cause number 64D02-9002-CF-000030. This is not the first time that he has brought a habeas corpus petition challenging that conviction. In James v. Hanks, TH98-C-0262-T/F (S.D. Ind. filed Nov. 9, 1998), the Court addressed the merits of his claims and denied his habeas corpus petition on May 5, 1999.
As such, this is a successive petition. However, James has not been authorized to file a successive petition as required by 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A). "A district court must dismiss a second or successive petition, without awaiting any response from the government, unless the court of appeals has given approval for its filing." Nunez v. United States, 96 F.3d 990, 991 (7th Cir. 1996) (emphasis in original). Therefore I must dismiss this case because this court lacks jurisdiction to hear it.
James is aware of the requirement that he obtain approval from the Court of Appeals before filing a successive habeas petition because the requirement was explained to him when he filed a previous successive petition. James v. Superintendent, No. 3:10-CV-67 JD, 2011 WL 2259710, at *2 (N.D. Ind. June 7, 2011). He nonetheless filed this successive habeas petition without the required approval. Although he will not be sanctioned at this time, James is cautioned that if he files another successive habeas petition without first obtaining approval from the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, he may be fined, sanctioned, or restricted from filing cases, including habeas corpus cases. See Montgomery v. Davis, 362 F.3d 956, 958 (7th Cir. 2004).
ACCORDINGLY:
The petition is DISMISSED for want of jurisdiction and the clerk is DIRECTED to close this case. James is CAUTIONED that filing another successive habeas petition without first obtaining approval from the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit may result in fines, sanctions, or filing restrictions.
SO ORDERED.
ENTERED: November 30, 2017
/s Philip P. Simon
Judge
United States District Court