Deanna Sharp, proceeding pro se, sought to appeal a district court order that dismissed her petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. The district court had accepted a magistrate judge's recommendation to dismiss the petition without prejudice. Sharp filed her notice of appeal on December 29, 2025, but the district court's final order was entered on November 6, 2025. Under the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, the time to file a notice of appeal in a civil case is thirty days from the entry of the judgment or order, which in this case expired on December 8, 2025. Sharp did not seek an extension or reopening of the deadline before filing.
The court addressed the issue of jurisdiction based solely on the timeliness of the notice of appeal. The court noted that in civil cases, parties generally have thirty days after the entry of a final judgment or order to file a notice of appeal under Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(a)(1)(A). The court emphasized that the timely filing of a notice of appeal is a jurisdictional requirement, citing the Supreme Court's decision in Bowles v. Russell, 551 U.S. 205, 214 (2007). In Bowles, the Court held that the time limit for filing a notice of appeal is mandatory and jurisdictional, meaning that courts lack the power to hear an appeal if the deadline is missed, even if the delay is minimal or the error is inadvertent. The Fourth Circuit found that because Sharp filed her notice of appeal on December 29, 2025, well after the December 8, 2025 deadline, and had not obtained an extension or reopening of the period under Rules 4(a)(5) or 4(a)(6), the appellate court lacked subject matter jurisdiction. Consequently, the court was compelled to dismiss the appeal.
The appeal is dismissed, leaving the district court's order denying the § 2241 petition in place. Because the dismissal is based on a lack of jurisdiction due to a missed deadline, the decision does not address the merits of the habeas claim. The dismissal is without prejudice, but since the appeal period has passed and the jurisdictional bar is absolute, Sharp cannot appeal the district court's decision on the merits in the Fourth Circuit. She may need to explore other potential avenues for relief, such as a motion to reopen the appeal period if she can show excusable neglect or a clerical error, though the court noted she did not seek such relief below.
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