Opinion
5:23-cv-469-WFJ-PRL
08-05-2024
TERRY M. WALKER, Petitioner, v. SECRETARY DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, Respondent.
ORDER
Petitioner initiated this action on July 31, 2023, by filing a pro se Petition Under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. (Doc. 1). An earlier order dismissed this action without prejudice for failing to submit his amended petition and failing to submit a completed Financial Certificate on or before November 22, 2023. (Doc. 9) The case was closed on November 30, 2023. Id.
Pending is Petitioner's construed motion to reopen the case. (Doc. 13). In the construed motion, Petitioner claims that he timely filed his Amended Petition and requests that the case be reopened. Petitioner's Amended Petition was received by the Clerk on December 5, 2023, see Doc. 11 at 1, after the case had already been closed. However, the Amended Petition was stamped by a staff member at the prison as “Provided to Apalachee Correctional Institution 11/21/23 For Mailing,” id. at 1, and was signed the same day, id. at 15. Under the “mailbox rule,” a prisoner's filing is deemed filed on the date it was signed and delivered to authorities for mailing. See Adams v. United States, 173 F.3d 1339 (11th Cir. 1999). Therefore, Petitioner's Amended Petition was timely filed. However, Petitioner has not complied with the Court's Orders directing him to either pay the filing fee or to submit a completed Financial Certificate. See Docs. 3, 6, 8.
Accordingly, it is hereby, ORDERED and ADJUDGED as follows:
1. Petitioner's Motion (Doc. 13) is GRANTED.
2. The order dismissing the action without prejudice (Doc. 9) is VACATED, and the Clerk must RE-OPEN the case. The Amended Petition (Doc. 11) will serve as the operative petition.
3. Petitioner must either pay the $5 filing fee or submit a completed Financial Certificate on or before August 26, 2024. The failure to comply within the allotted time will result in the dismissal of this case without further notice.