By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//March 13, 2013//
United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit
Criminal
Habeas Corpus — appellate fees
The portions of 28 U.S.C. 1915 and 1915A applicable exclusively to prisoners’ civil actions do not apply to collateral attacks on criminal judgments; but the portions of sec. 1915 that apply generally are as relevant to collateral litigation as to other suits and appeals.
“We therefore deny Thomas’s request that we permit him, and all other applicants for collateral relief, to file appeals without regard to the fees required by §1913 and the resolutions of the Judicial Conference. Thomas is, however, entitled to contest in this court the propriety of the district judge’s declaration that the appeal has been taken in bad faith—a phrase that despite lay usage has been understood to mean objective frivolousness. See Lee v. Clinton, 209 F.3d 1025 (7th Cir. 2000). A frivolous appeal never meets the standard for a certificate of appealability. But an appeal can be non-frivolous and still flunk the standard established by §2253(c)(2), which conditions a certificate of appealability on ‘a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.’”
Motion Denied.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Barker, J., Easterbrook, J.