Case Explained: Summary Calendar James E. Sanders Plaintiff— v. Kristen Gibson; Bryan D. Reitsma; Angela N. Davis; Tina S. Vitolo; Marissa Bartholet Defendants—

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

Filed: 2026-07-08

The Fifth Circuit dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction because it was filed untimely. The court held that while a timely post-judgment motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e) tolls the 30-day deadline for filing a notice of appeal, a successive post-judgment motion on the same grounds does not restart or extend that deadline. Sanders filed a Rule 59(e) motion which tolled the deadline until its denial; however, his subsequent Rule 60(b) motion was a second attempt to relitigate the same issues and failed to toll the appeal period further. Consequently, the 30-day window expired on March 4, 2024, but Sanders did not file his notice of appeal until June 12, 2025. As the appeal is jurisdictionally barred by the mandatory time limits under 28 U.S.C. § 2107(a) and Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a), the court lacks authority to review the district court’s dismissal of Sanders’s equal-protection claim.

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