In re Snow

Cecil Snow, who is incarcerated in the federal penitentiary at Alcatraz, claiming that he has served his sentences, sought release by petition for habeas corpus to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The 'petition was dismissed. He sought to appeal in forma pauperis. The District Court denied his application, certifying that “the appeal is so frivolous as to show that it was not taken in good faith”. The right to proceed in forma pauperis is denied by the act of Congress ( 28 U.S.C.A. § 832 ) where such a certificate is made by the District Court. To overcome this obstacle to his appeal he seeks a review of the action of the District Court in making such certificate. He asks that he be allowed to pursue this review in this couft in forma pauperis.

The statute is plain. It has been uniformly interpreted to deny the privilege of proceeding on appeal without the payment of costs to cases where there is no merit. Where the appeal is so devoid of merit in the opinion of the trial court as to justify his certificate of a lack of good faith in the appeal, there is no provision for a review of his action in so certifying. The result is that he must…