Robbins

Filing 2

ORDER DISMISSING CASE signed by Judge Pamela Pepper on 6/29/2020 DENYING 1 motion for extension of time filed by Shane T. Robbins. (cc: all counsel, via mail to Shane Robbins at Waupun Correctional Institution)(cb)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN

IN RE: SHANE T. ROBBINS

Case No. 20-mc-21-pp

ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME (DKT. NO. 1) AND
DISMISSING CASE

On June 26, 2020, the court received a request from Shane T. Robbins
for an extension of time to file his habeas petition. Dkt. No. 1. Because Mr.
Robbins did not have an open case before the court, the Clerk of Court opened
a miscellaneous case, docketed the motion for an extension of time and
assigned the miscellaneous case to this court. Id.
In his motion, Mr. Robbins requests an extension of time to file a federal
petition for habeas corpus relief, explaining that there has been a lockdown at
Waupun Correctional Institution and he hasn’t been able to use the law library
Id.
A person in state custody has one year to file a petition for habeas corpus
review in federal court, and that one year begins to “run from . . . the date on
which the judgment became final by the conclusion of direct review or the
expiration of the time for seeking such review.” 28 U.S.C. §2244(d)(1)(A). A
federal court cannot “extend” that one-year time limit. The question is when
the one-year time starts to run, and that depends on what actions the person
has taken in his state case. There are cases that discuss when a judgment
becomes “final,” and that issue can be complicated. It is true that the federal

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habeas statute has “tolling” provisions that exempt certain periods of time from
counting toward the one-year limitations period. For example, 28 U.S.C.
§2244(d)(2) provides that “The time during which a properly filed application for
State post-conviction or other collateral review with respect to the pertinent
judgment or claim is pending shall not be counted toward any period of
limitation.” Until Mr. Robbins files a habeas petition, however, the court will
not be able to tell whether any time has been “tolled” or whether his petition
would be barred by the statute of limitations.
The court does not have the authority to extend the deadline for Mr.
Robbins to file his petition. It can advise him only to conduct research into the
question of whether his state conviction has become “final” and, if so, when;
and then to make sure that he files his habeas petition within one year of the
date the conviction becomes, or became, final.
The court ORDERS that Mr. Robbins’s request is DENIED. Dkt. No. 1.
The court ORDERS that the case is DISMISSED.
Dated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this 29th day of June, 2020.
BY THE COURT:
_____________________________________
HON. PAMELA PEPPER
United States District Judge

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