Anant Kumar Tripati v. Gary L. Henman R.J. Barncastle Willis Gibson Richard A. Stacy Leland Pico Dale Berndt

The dispositive issue in this appeal is whether a district court retains subject matter jurisdiction to consider a timely Fed.R.Civ.P. 59(e) motion to alter or amend a judgment when the motion is filed subsequent to a notice of appeal. We reverse the district court’s holding that it lacked jurisdiction over the Rule 59(e) motion.

Anant Kumar Tripati (Tripati) filed an amended civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1985 (1982) against various federal prison officials in June 1986. The officials’ cross-motion for summary judgment was granted on April 14, 1987, and Tripati filed a notice of appeal on April 20. The next day, Tripati filed a “Motion Per Rule 59 and 60” in the district court to “vacate the judgment.” This motion was denied for lack of jurisdiction on April 22. Tripa- ti’s appeal of this order on May 27 was timely under Fed.R.App.P. 4(a)(1).

“The effective filing of a notice of appeal is an event of jurisdictional significance.” United States v. Edwards, 800 F.2d 878, 883 (9th Cir.1986). “A notice of appeal is jurisdictionally ineffective if filed before disposition of a Rule 59(e) motion to alter or amend the judgment.” Miller v. Transamerican Press, Inc., 709 F.2d…