Opinion
NO. 4:17-CV-120-DMB-RP
09-14-2017
MARCUS F. MORRIS PETITIONER v. JACQUALYN A. BANKS and ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI RESPONDENTS
ORDER OF TRANSFER
On August 14, 2017, Marcus F. Morris filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging his life sentence for the capital murder conviction he received in the Circuit Court of Washington County, Mississippi. Doc. #1. Morris has filed at least three other § 2254 petitions concerning the same conviction he now seeks to challenge. See Morris v. Epps, No. 4:11-cv-122 (N.D. Miss.) (filed Oct. 31, 2011); Morris v. Denmark, No. 4:14-cv-155 (N.D. Miss.) (filed Oct. 31, 2014); Morris v. Banks, No. 4:15-cv-159 (N.D. Miss.) (filed Oct. 30, 2015).
The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act requires that before a second or successive petition is filed in the district court, "the applicant move in the appropriate court of appeals for an order authorizing the district court to consider the application." 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A). When a prisoner has not obtained the necessary order of authorization, the district court may transfer the petition to the Fifth Circuit "for a determination [as to] whether the successive petition should be allowed." In re Epps, 127 F.3d 364, 365 (5th Cir. 1997).
The record shows that Morris has not obtained an order of authorization to pursue his successive petition. Therefore, in the interest of justice and judicial economy, the Clerk of the Court is DIRECTED to (1) transfer this petition and the entire record of this case to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 2244(a) and (b)(3)(c), and 28 U.S.C. § 1631, and (2) close this case on the Court's docket. Accordingly, Morris' pending motions to proceed in forma pauperis [2] and for reconsideration [3] are DENIED as moot.
SO ORDERED, this 14th day of September, 2017.
/s/ Debra M. Brown
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE