In re: Kiwanis Jones, No. 16-14053 (11th Cir. 2016)

Petitioner filed an application seeking an order authorizing the district court to consider a second or successive motion to vacate, set aside, or correct his federal sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2255(h) and 2244(b)(3)(A). Petitioner asserts that his sentence, enhanced as a career offender under the residual clause of the Sentencing Guidelines, violates due process. Petitioner argued that his prior conviction for third-degree escape is no longer a predicate offense under the Guidelines because the residual clause is invalid in light of Johnson v. United States. The court held that section 2244(b)(1)'s mandate applies to applications for leave to file a second or successive section 2255 motion. The court also held that a prisoner may not file "what amounts to a motion for reconsideration under the guise of a separate and purportedly 'new' application" when the new application raises the same claim that was raised and rejected in the prior application. In this case, the court rejected petitioner's application because the claim in his instant application was raised and rejected on the merits in a prior application. Accordingly, the court denied the application.