Opinions of the United
2006 Decisions States Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit
5-8-2006
Queen v. Fed Bur Prisons
Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential
Docket No. 05-5474
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Recommended Citation
"Queen v. Fed Bur Prisons" (2006). 2006 Decisions. Paper 1145.
http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2006/1145
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HPS-59 (April 2006) NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
NO. 05-5474
________________
NICHOLAS J. QUEEN,
Appellant
vs.
FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS
____________________________________
On Appeal From the United States District Court
For the Middle District of Pennsylvania
(D.C. Civ. No. 05-cv-02504)
District Judge: Honorable Richard P. Conaboy
_______________________________________
Submitted For Possible Summary Action Under Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6
April 21, 2006
Before: SCIRICA, Chief Judge, WEIS and GARTH, Circuit Judges
(Filed: May 8, 2006)
_______________________
OPINION
_______________________
PER CURIAM.
Nicholas J. Queen, a federal prisoner, appeals the order of the United States
District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania dismissing the habeas petition he
brought pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 2241 as a successive petition.
From 1998 to 2003, Queen filed two § 2241 petitions and a Rule 60(b)
motion, all of which contended that he was being illegally held in federal custody
resulting in part from the federal government’s administrative error in failing to return
him immediately to the custody of the state of Maryland after he was tried and convicted
of federal charges in 1994. We affirmed the District Court’s denial of the § 2241
petitions and the Rule 60(b) motion. See Queen v. Romine, C.A. No. 00-2786 (3d Cir.
Oct. 5, 2001) (1998 § 2241 petition); Queen v. Romine, C.A. No. 02-2872 (3d Cir. Nov.
19, 2002) (Rule 60(b) motion); Queen v. Dodrill, C.A. No. 04-1212 (3d Cir. Sept. 8,
2004) (successive § 2241 petition).
The instant § 2241 petition was transferred to the Middle District of
Pennsylvania from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Yet
again, Queen seeks to be released from allegedly unlawful restraint on essentially the
same grounds that he has articulated in prior unsuccessful § 2241 petitions. He claims
that federal prison officials violated his constitutional rights when they “re-imprisoned”
him in April 1995. He also contends that in 2003, prison officials wrongfully rejected as
untimely an administrative grievance complaining about an aspect of his alleged illegal
transfer to federal custody. The District Court summarily dismissed the § 2241 petition
and declined to issue a certificate of appealability, holding that the habeas petition was
successive because it presented claims that were raised or could have been raised in
previous § 2241 petitions.1 Queen timely appealed.
We have appellate jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we review
1
We disagree with the District Court’s ruling that, under the AEDPA,
Queen was required to seek prior authorization from this Court before filing a successive
§ 2241 petition. See Zayas v. INS, 311 F.3d 247, 252 (3d Cir. 2002).
de novo the District Court’s denial of the § 2241 petition as successive. Zayas v. INS,
311 F.3d 247, 252 (3d Cir. 2002). The Appellee has filed a motion for summary
affirmance and Queen has filed a Response in opposition to summary action. The matter
is ready for disposition. For essentially the same reasons set forth by the District Court in
its Order entered December 12, 2005, we will summarily affirm. We discern no
difference between the claims raised in Queen’s current § 2241 petition and those raised
in prior habeas petitions. But even if the claims in Queen’s § 2241 petition could be
construed as “new,” they are based on a factual predicate long known to Queen and thus
they could have been raised in earlier habeas petitions. Because the successive habeas
petition constitutes an abuse of the writ, see Zayas, 311 F.3d at 255-56, the District Court
correctly dismissed the habeas petition.
Because no substantial question is presented by this appeal, we will affirm
the District Court’s judgment. See Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6. Appellee’s
motion for summary affirmance is granted and the Appellant’s motion for summary
opposition is denied.