United States v. Pilcher, No. 18-3444 (2d Cir. 2020)
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The denial of a motion to file a habeas petition under a pseudonym is immediately appealable under the collateral order doctrine. The Second Circuit affirmed the magistrate judge's denial of defendant's motion to file a habeas petition through the use of a pseudonym. The court joined several of its sister circuits in holding that such denials were appealable under the collateral order doctrine. In this case, the district court's decision conclusively determined the issue of whether defendant could proceed under a pseudonym; the issue was completely separate from the merits of his 28 U.S.C. 2255 motion; and it will be effectively unreviewable on appeal from final judgment on his section 2255 motion.
On the merits, the court held that the magistrate judge considered the proper legal principles governing the motion, including a presumption in favor of public access to court proceedings and records, and the exceptions to that presumption. The court held that the district court properly held that the magistrate judge's order did not rest on an error of law or a clearly erroneous factual finding; the conclusion was within the range of permissible decisions; the circumstances identified by defendant were insufficient to support an exception; and there was no error, clear or otherwise, in the magistrate judge's decision. Therefore, the district court did not abuse its discretion in affirming the denial of the motion.
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