Todd Michael Giffen, a petitioner proceeding pro se, has been civilly committed to the custody of the United States Attorney General under 18 U.S.C. § 4246 since December 2022. Giffen filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 in the Eastern District of North Carolina. The district court dismissed this petition for failure to prosecute. Giffen also filed motions for the appointment of counsel and for a stay of his commitment, which the district court denied. He attempted to appeal these denials and the dismissal in two separate dockets: No. 24-6590 and No. 24-6406.
In No. 24-6590, the panel reviewed the district court's dismissal of the habeas petition and the denial of Giffen's motions. After reviewing the record, the court found no reversible error and affirmed the district court's judgment. Regarding No. 24-6406, the court addressed the jurisdictional question. Giffen had filed an interlocutory appeal from the denial of his motions and other case management orders. The court held that these orders were neither final orders nor appealable interlocutory or collateral orders. Consequently, the court dismissed the appeal in No. 24-6406 for lack of jurisdiction. The court clarified that Giffen's challenges to these specific orders were already reviewed as part of the appeal in No. 24-6590, citing Jenkins v. Woodard to note that a notice of appeal of a final order encompasses all orders that merge into that order.
Todd Michael Giffen's civil commitment remains in effect, and his habeas petition is dismissed. The dismissal for failure to prosecute effectively ends his ability to pursue that specific legal challenge unless he can show good cause for the delay. The separate appeal regarding the appointment of counsel and stay of commitment is resolved against him, as those issues were subsumed in the affirmed judgment. No further appellate review is available on the dismissed interlocutory orders.