Portal:United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

“ Before the dismissal of his § 2255 motion, Hernandez-Zavala never moved for leave to amend the motion. But he now avers that the district court erred in summarily dismissing his motion, contending that he should have been permitted to state his claims with greater specificity. The government counters that district courts do not have a duty sua sponte to give § 2255 movants a chance to amend their motions.
We agree. A district court does not err in declining to offer sua sponte a § 2255 movant an opportunity to amend. ”

“ Dec. 27, 1999) (per curiam) (unpublished) ; United v. Alcantar, No. 98-20932, 1999 WL 422955, at *1 (5th Cir. May 25, 1999) (per curiam) (unpublished) . In each of those cases, the movant either requested leave to amend before dismissal or included pleadings that reasonably should have been interpreted as requests to amend. ”