James P. Ryan v. Carlo DeMaria, Jr., Mayor of the City of Everett, Massachusetts, et al.

Federal law provides two options to file a late no­ tice of appeal in a civil case: (1) “upon motion filed not later than 30 days after the expiration of the time oth­ erwise set for bringing appeal, . . . upon a showing of excusable neglect or good cause,” or (2) “upon motion filed within 180 days after entry of the judgment or order or within 14 days after receipt of such notice,” if the party did not receive notice of judgment and no party would be prejudiced. 28 U.S.C. § 2107(c). Mr. Ryan filed his pro se motion for leave to file a late notice of appeal, with an affidavit stating that he did not receive the judgment, which the district court construed as a motion invoking these two provisions. After this motion was denied, the First Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed his appeal, stating that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the appeal because the notice was not filed within 30 days of the first provision under the law. The question presented is as follows: 1. Whether a federal court is deprived ofjurisdic­ tion when a notice of appeal is filed beyond the 30 days in the first provision of § 2107 but meets the criteria for the second provision, extending that to 180 days. 1 <