O'COnnOr v. United States

NOTE: This order is nonprecedential United States Court of Appeals for the FederaI Circuit CAROLYN E. O’CONNOR, Plaintiff-Appellant, V. UNITED STATES, Defen,do:n,t-Appellee. 2010-5013 Appeal from the United States Court of Federal C1aims in case n0. 09-CV-116, Judge George W. Mi]ler. ON MOTION PER CURIAM. 0 R D E R The United States moves to dismiss Caro1yn E. O’Conn0r’s appeal as untimely On August 7, 2009, the United States Court of Fed- era1 Claims dismissed O’Connor’s complaint with preju- dice for failure to state a claim within the c0urt’s jurisdiction. The Court of Federal Claims determined that, read generously, O'Connor‘s complaint was a chal- O'CONNOR V. US 2 1enge to other judges' determinations in different cases and raised tort claims outside of the court‘s jurisdiction. The court also noted that O'Connor had filed ten law- suits in seven months in the Court of Federal Claims and that she had been sanctioned or barred by three district courts for filing frivolous litigation The Court of Federal Claims ordered that O'Connor must file a motion for leave before filing additional complaints in the Court of Federal Claims. The court informed O'Connor that any appeal of its judgment must be filed within 60 days of the entry of judgment On September 28, 2009, O’Connor moved the court for reconsideration. Because that motion was not Hled within 10 days of August 7, 2009, that motion did not toll the time period for filing a notice of appeal from the judgment. Fed. R. App. P. 4(a). ' On October 8, 2009, the court denied O’Connor’s mo- tion for reconsideration. She filed a document entitled "Objection to Order and Dismissal Appeal of Decision" on October 20, 2009, more than 60 days from the date of entry of judgment, but within 60 days from the date of denial of O'Connor’s motion for reconsideration The Court of Federal Claims transmitted the notice of appeal to this court. An appeal from a judgment of the Court of Federal Claims must be filed within 60 days after the entry of judgment unless the time to file is tolled by the filing of a timely motion for reconsideration See 28 U.S.C. § 2522; Fed. R. App. P. 4. As the Supreme Court has stated, when the time for filing a notice of appeal is limited by statute, such as in this case, the appeal period is manda- tory and jurisdictional Bowles v. Ru,ssell, 551 U.S. 205 (2007) (the timely filing of a notice of appeal in a civil case is a jurisdictional requirement that cannot be waived). Because 0’Connor did not file a notice of appeal within 60 days after entry of judgment, and because her 3 O'CONNOR V. US motion for reconsideration did not toll the time to appeal the judgment, we do not have jurisdiction to review the judgment dismissing her complaint To the extent O'Connor may be challenging the denial of her motion for reconsideration, we affirm the denial of her motion. lt is within the authority of the court to impose filing restric- tions, see, e.g., Martin U. District of C'olumbia Court of Appeals, 506 U.S. 1 (1992) (imposing filing restrictions for frivolous requests for relief), and O'Connor has not con- vinced this court in her briefs that the trial court should have granted reconsideration. Accordingly, IT ls ORnERED THAT: (1) The motion to dismiss -the appeal is granted in part; this court does not have jurisdiction to review the Court of Federal Claims‘ judgment. The order denying O'Conn0r's motion for reconsideration is affirmed (2) All sides shall bear their own costs. FoR THE CoURT AUG -2 /s/ Jan Horbaly Date J an Horba1y Clerk cc: Carolyn E. O’Connor David M. Hibey, Esq. 319 m ron twigg - tom-cum AUB 02 3@lU .|AN HORBALY GLERK