RUFUS v. STATE OF GEORGIA

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA MACON DIVISION

MICHAEL ALONZA RUFUS, ) ) Petitioner, ) ) v. ) CIVIL ACTION NO. 5:19-CV-283 (MTT) ) ) STATE OF GEORGIA, ) ) Respondent. ) )

ORDER

On February 5, 2020, the Court entered judgment dismissing without prejudice Petitioner Michael Alonza Rufus’s petition for habeas relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. Docs. 16; 17. Six months later, Rufus filed a notice of appeal and moved to appeal in forma pauperis. Docs. 23; 26. The Court denied that motion, and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals remanded for the Court to consider whether a certificate of appealability (COA) should be issued. The Court then denied a COA. Doc. 33. Rufus now challenges the Eleventh Circuit’s order in his “Request for Judicial Determination of the Applicability & Constitutionality of the Universal Application of § 2253’s COA Requirement.” Doc. 32. Rufus argues that the judges who ordered the limited remand should be disqualified because they are current or former members of the State Bar of Georgia, and he makes several substantive arguments for why the COA requirement should not apply to him. He then requests that the Eleventh Circuit “adjudicate it’s [sic] previous order of instruction to the district court as being erroneously under illegal and unconstitutional application of the laws and thereafter adjudicate this appeal.” Id. at 4. As noted, the Petitioner has filed a notice of appeal. Doc. 23. Generally, the district court loses jurisdiction when a notice of appeal is filed. Weaver v. Fla. Power &

Light Co., 172 F.3d 771, 773 (11th Cir. 1999) (citation omitted) (“It is well-settled law that the filing of a notice of appeal divests the district court of jurisdiction over a case.”). But this “general rule . . . does not apply to collateral matters not affecting the questions presented on appeal.” Id. (citations omitted). To any extent that the Petitioner’s motion relates to “collateral matters not affecting the questions presented on appeal” that motion is DENIED. Further, it appears that the Petitioner intended to file this motion in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. However, he filed it in the Middle District of Georgia. If he wants the Eleventh Circuit to rule on his motion, he must refile it in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

SO ORDERED, this 4th day of March, 2021. S/ Marc T. Treadwell MARC T. TREADWELL, CHIEF JUDGE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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