Opinion ID: 3000349
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: This Court’s Earlier Precedent

Text: This court previously has addressed the BIA’s dismissal of “procedurally defective” appeals. Awe, 324 F.3d at 512; see also Stroe v. INS, 256 F.3d 498, 499 (7th Cir. 2001). In Stroe, the petitioners, who were represented by counsel, appealed an adverse asylum decision to the BIA. Petitioners’ counsel received an initial thirty-day extension to file a brief; however, counsel failed to file a brief on behalf 8 No. 05-4641 of the petitioners until three months after the extended deadline. Prior to the BIA’s receipt of the brief, it had dismissed the appeal on the ground that a brief had not been filed. Before this court, the petitioners argued that the Board had denied them “due process of law when it dismissed the appeal for failure to file a timely brief without having notified them of the possibility that dismissal might be a consequence of such a failure.” Stroe, 256 F.3d at 499. We characterized this argument as “border[ing] on the frivolous”: The Board was under no duty, either constitutional or statutory, to send [counsel] periodic reminders. An appellant’s failure to file a brief is a serious procedural default, and, at least when the appellant is represented by counsel . . . dismissal is an appropriate sanction. Id. We held similarly in Awe, 324 F.3d at 513. As in Stroe, the petitioner in Awe had received an adverse ruling from an IJ on his applications for asylum and withholding of deportation. Awe appealed to the BIA by submitting a Notice of Appeal, Form EOIR-26, on which he checked the box indicating that he intended to file a separate written brief in support of his appeal. Also, in the space provided on the Notice of Appeal itself, Awe stated in some detail his reasons for appealing the IJ’s decision. At that time Awe requested, and later received, an additional 30 days to file his brief; however, he never submitted a brief or an explanation for its absence to the BIA. One month after Awe’s brief was due but never filed, the INS filed a brief expressing its support for the IJ’s decision. Two months later the BIA summarily dismissed Awe’s appeal, citing 8 C.F.R. § 3.1(d)(2)(i)(D). No. 05-4641 9 Id. at 512. In his brief before this court, Awe did not challenge the BIA’s “decision to dismiss his petition for procedural reasons but instead argue[d] that the BIA’s substantive review of the IJ’s decision was flawed.” Id. At oral argument, Awe’s attorney acknowledged that he had missed the briefing deadline, but argued that “his mistake was not fatal because the Notice of Appeal gave the BIA a ‘fair appraisal’ of the issues to be addressed in Awe’s appeal.” Id. at 513. We held that Awe’s notice argument was waived because he failed to present it to the court prior to oral argument. However, we continued: Even assuming Awe had not waived his right to challenge the BIA’s procedural dismissal, we note that 8 C.F.R. § 3.1(d)(2)(i)(D) explicitly gives the BIA authority to dismiss procedurally defective appeals, and we have condoned the BIA’s use of this power in cases similar to this one. See Stroe v. INS, 256 F.3d 498, 499 (7th Cir. 2001) (holding summary dismissal appropriate where party indicated he would file brief, requested and received 30-day filing extension, and never filed brief nor explained why he had not); accord Rioja v. Ashcroft, 317 F.3d 514, 515-16 (5th Cir. 2003). We do not see anything in the record here to suggest that the BIA inappropriately exercised its power in summarily dismissing Awe’s appeal under § 3.1(d)(2)(i)(D), and we therefore affirm its decision on these grounds. Awe, 324 F.3d at 513.7 With these authorities in mind, we turn to Ms. Kokar’s arguments. 7 In rejecting Awe’s argument, we specifically noted that the Ninth Circuit had “held that the BIA may excuse a petitioner’s failure to file a brief if the Notice of Appeal is sufficiently thorough.” Awe v. Ashcroft, 324 F.3d 509, 513 (7th Cir. 2003) (citing Casas-Chavez v. INS, 300 F.3d 1088, 1091 (9th Cir. 2002)). 10 No. 05-4641