Kingsley v. Commonwealth of MA

• Court: Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
• Decided: August 20, 1993
• Docket: 92-2310
• Status: Published

Opinion

USCA1 Opinion

August 20, 1993       [NOT FOR PUBLICATION]

                            UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT

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No. 92-2310

LAWRENCE KINGSLEY,

                                Petitioner, Appellant,

                                          v.

                        COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, ET AL.,

                               Respondents, Appellees.

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                     APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

                          FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

                       [Hon. Rya W. Zobel, U.S. District Judge]
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                                 ___________________

                                        Before

                                 Breyer, Chief Judge,
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                          Torruella and Cyr, Circuit Judges.
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                                 ___________________

               Dr. Lawrence Kingsley on brief pro se.
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               Scott  Harshbarger,  Attorney  General,  and   Elisabeth  J.
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          Medvedow, Assistant Attorney General, on brief for appellees.
          ________

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                                  __________________

Per Curiam.   Pro se  petitioner Lawrence  Kingsley
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            appeals  from the dismissal  of his petition  for relief from

            certain  state court  traffic convictions  under 28  U.S.C.  

            2254.    We  have  thoroughly  reviewed  the  record  and the

            parties' briefs on appeal.  We are persuaded that this habeas

            petition was properly dismissed  because Kingsley was not "in

            custody"  when  he filed  it,  therefore  the district  court

            lacked subject matter jurisdiction.  See, e.g., United States
                                                 ___  ____  _____________

            v. Michaud, 901  F.2d 5,7  (1st Cir. 1990)  (per curiam)  ("A
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            monetary fine is  not a  sufficient restraint  on liberty  to

            meet  the  'in custody'  requirement  for    2255  purposes);

            Lillios v. State of New Hampshire, 788 F.2d 60,  61 (1st Cir.
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            1986)(per  curiam) (modest  fines  for  speeding and  license

            suspension "'not the sort of severe[] restraint on individual

            liberty'  for  which  habeas  corpus   relief  is  reserved")

            (citations omitted);  Tinder v. Paula, 725 F.2d 801, 804 (1st
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            Cir. 1984).

                 Judgment affirmed     
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