Court Opinion

ID: 9493843
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 15:20:55.285027+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:56:03.794791
License: Public Domain

MOORE, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
In Dillon v. United States, 184 F.3d 556 (6th Cir.1999) (en banc), we held that “when there is only one possible appellate forum, and no information or action contrary to the proper forum appears on the face of the papers, the filing of a notice of appeal has the practical effect of ‘naming’ that forum,” despite the absence of a specifically named court, and therefore such a notice of appeal complies with the requirements of Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 3(c)(1). This case presents a similar problem: the notice of appeal simply “request[s] a Protective Notice of Appeal in this Matter,” but does not specify a “judgment, order, or part thereof being appealed.” Fed.R.App.P. 3(c)(1). I believe that a fair application of our decision in Dillon leads to the conclusion that this notice of appeal, though totally unartful, meets the jurisdictional requirements of Rule 3(c)(1). Therefore I respectfully dissent.
The notice of appeal was filed by the United States in this case on June 18, 1999, directly following the district court’s entry of the final judgment on May 20, 1999 imposing the sentence on defendant Cedric Glover and terminating the case. Glover had previously pleaded guilty to the one-count indictment. At a sentencing hearing on August 28, 1998, the district judge indicated that Glover’s sentence would include three months in a halfway house and restitution of the arrearage in child support payments but reserved judgment on the amount of the arrearage because of a legal question regarding the allowable scope of restitution under the Child Support Recovery Act. At a subsequent hearing on September 11, 1998, the district judge stated that she would resolve the legal issue concerning restitution in a written order to be issued subsequently. Instead, the district court resolved the legal issue regarding restitution on the record in an in-chambers conference held on May 18, 1999, and entered the final judgment two days later. At the in-chambers conference, the district judge announced *338that she was accepting the defendant’s legal argument concerning the determination of restitution, and the Assistant United States Attorney noted her objection to this ruling on the record. No other issue was argued at this conference.
A notice of appeal that specifies that an appeal is taken from “the final judgment” clearly does comply with Rule 3(c)(1). A notice of appeal stating that an appeal is taken from “the judgment,” that is filed after the entry of final judgment where there are no district court orders entered subsequent to the final judgment, also satisfies the requirements of Rule 3(c)(1). The notice of appeal in this case takes an appeal “in this Matter” and was filed directly after the district court’s final judgment in the case. Under these circumstances the notice of appeal “has the practical effect of designating” the final judgment in the case. Dillon, 184 F.3d at 557. As in Dillon, “there are neither administrative concerns nor fairness concerns that should prevent the appeal from going forward.” Id. at 558 (quoting Advisory Comm. Notes to 1993 Amendments). Because there can be no other order or judgment to which this notice of appeal refers, I would hold that, in accord with Dillon, this notice of appeal meets the jurisdictional requirements of Rule 3(c)(1).