Paez v. Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, No. 16-15705 (11th Cir. 2020)
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The Eleventh Circuit published this opinion in place of its previous opinion, which was vacated by order of the court.
The court affirmed the district court's dismissal of a 28 U.S.C. 2254 petition for habeas relief, holding that a district court may, on its own initiative and without hearing from the State, decide that the statute of limitations bars the petition. In this case, petitioner was provided ample notice and opportunity to explain why his petition was timely in his form petition and again when he was given the opportunity to respond to the magistrate judge's Report and Recommendation that his petition be summarily dismissed as untimely. Furthermore, the Secretary was notified of the court's action, had an opportunity to respond, and remained silent. No one contests that the petition was untimely and the State has never indicated a desire to waive the limitations bar. Therefore, the district court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing the petition.
This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on July 31, 2019.
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