Gallop v. Bureau of Prisons
- Jerry Blackwell
- 0:25-cv-00159
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 1
In Gallop v. Bureau of Prisons, Judge Blackwell denied Teresa Gallop's petition asking a federal court to order her release or other relief from federal custody, accepting the magistrate judge's recommendation without finding any clear error.
Federal prisoners or detainees who file petitions under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 challenging the execution of their sentences, as well as litigants who receive an adverse magistrate judge recommendation and must understand the importance of timely filing objections to preserve full de novo review.
What happened
In Gallop v. Bureau of Prisons, Teresa Gallop filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 — a federal law that allows a person in custody to ask a court to review the legality of their imprisonment or the conditions of their confinement — against the Federal Bureau of Prisons and a warden identified as Segal.
United States Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright reviewed the petition and issued a Report and Recommendation on August 8, 2025, recommending that it be denied. Gallop did not file any objections to that recommendation within the allowed time, which meant the district court only needed to check for obvious ('clear') errors before deciding whether to accept it.
Judge Blackwell found no clear error in the magistrate judge's Report and Recommendation and accepted it in full. As a result, Gallop's petition was denied, and judgment will be entered accordingly. The opinion does not explain the underlying reasons for the denial, as those are contained in the magistrate judge's Report and Recommendation, which is not reproduced here.
The detailed version
Case: Gallop v. Bureau of Prisons, Civ. No. 25-159 (JWB/ECW), United States District Court, District of Minnesota.
Judge: Jerry W. Blackwell, United States District Judge.
Background: Petitioner Teresa Gallop filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 (Doc. No. 1) against respondents the Federal Bureau of Prisons and Segal, identified as Warden. A § 2241 petition is a legal vehicle by which a federal prisoner may challenge the execution of their sentence, such as the computation of good-time credits, placement decisions, or other aspects of confinement, as distinct from a § 2255 motion which challenges the conviction or sentence itself. The opinion does not detail the specific grounds Gallop asserted.
Magistrate Judge Proceedings: United States Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright issued a Report and Recommendation ('R&R') on August 8, 2025 (Doc. No. 14), recommending denial of the petition. The content and reasoning of the R&R are not reproduced in this order.
Objection Period: Gallop did not file any objections to the R&R within the time permitted under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72(b).
Standard of Review: Because no timely objections were filed, the district court reviewed the R&R only for clear error, citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b) and Grinder v. Gammon, 73 F.3d 793, 795 (8th Cir. 1996). This is a more deferential standard than de novo review, which would apply if objections had been filed.
Ruling: Judge Blackwell found no clear error and accepted the R&R in its entirety. The petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 was DENIED. The court directed that judgment be entered accordingly.
Note: Because the substantive legal analysis is contained in the magistrate judge's R&R rather than in this order, this summary cannot describe the specific reasons the petition was denied.
Reviewer note from the AI+
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.