Carmelitta Jones v. Eric K. Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs

# NOTE: This order is nonprecedential. United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

CARMELITTA JONES,
Claimant-Appellant,
V.
ERIC K. SHINSEKI, SECRETARY OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS,
Respondent-Appellee.

2011-7195

Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for
Veterans Claims in 09-1308, Judge Lawrence B. Hagel.

## ON MOTION

Before LOURIE, PROST, AND MOORE, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM.

## ORDER

Carmelitta Jones and the Secretary of Veterans Af-
fairs respond to this court's show cause order. The Secre-
tary moves to dismiss Jones's appeal for lack of
jurisdiction.

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On April 8, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals
for Veterans Claims affirmed the Board of Veterans
Appeals' decision denying entitlement to dependency and
indemnity compensation benefits. On June 1, 2011, the
Veterans Court entered judgment in Jones's case. The
court received Jones's notice of appeal on August 29,
2011, 89 days after the date of judgment.

To be timely, a notice of appeal must be filed with the
Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims within 60 days of
the entry of judgment. See 38 U.S.C. § 7292(a); 28 U.S.C.
§ 2107(b); Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1); see also Henderson v.
Shinseki, 131 S. Ct. 1197, 1204-05 (2011) (the language of
Section 7292(a) "clearly signals an intent" to impose the
same jurisdictional restrictions on an appeal from the
Veterans Court to the Federal Circuit as imposed on
appeals from a district court to a court of appeals). The
statutory deadline for taking an appeal to this court is
jurisdictional and thus mandatory. See Bowles v. Russell,
551 U.S. 205 (2007). As such, this court "has no authority
to create equitable exceptions to jurisdictional require-
ments," even if such "rigorous rules ... are thought to be
inequitable[.]" Id. at 214.

Jones contends that she submitted a notice of appeal
on April 8, 2011-the same date as the Veterans Court's
decision. As the Secretary points out, there is no record of
a notice of appeal filed with the Veterans Court prior to
the August 29, 2011 notice of appeal. Jones also contends
that "the cause of delay is contributed by distance and
mail." As noted above, this court may not waive the
jurisdictional time limit on such grounds.

Accordingly,

IT IS ORDERED THAT:

(1) The Secretary's motion is granted. Jones's appeal
is dismissed.

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(2) Each side shall bear its own costs.

FOR THE COURT

FEB 06 2012

/s/ Jan Horbaly

Date

Jan Horbaly Clerk

cc: Carmelitta Jones
William J. Grimaldi, Esq.
$19

FILED
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR
THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT
FEB 06 2012

Issued As A Mandate:

FEB 06 2012

JAN HORBALY
CLERK