John Francis Bennett v. United States

Bennett appeals from the district court’s denial of his petition for a writ of mandamus in which he sought to obtain free copies of his trial transcript and all other court documents pertaining to his conviction. We affirm. 1

Although the appellant has no appeal or motion for collateral relief pending in any court, he asserts that as an indigent he is entitled to his own copy of his record in order to prepare a petition for post-conviction relief.

We do not agree with this contention. To the contrary, we have consistently held that a federal prisoner has no absolute right to copies of court…