Opinion
24-cv-00233-JSW
01-18-2024
BOLIN, Plaintiff, v. WARDEN, Defendant.
ORDER OF TRANSFER
JEFFREY S. WHITE UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Petitioner, a California prisoner proceeding without an attorney at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, California, filed a “notice of independent action” seeking relief from a criminal judgment out of Kern County Superior Court. In light of the relief sought, Court construes this filing as a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
A petition for a writ of habeas corpus made by a person in custody under the judgment and sentence of a state court of a state which contains two or more federal judicial districts may be filed in either the district of confinement or the district of conviction. See 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d). Each of such districts shall have concurrent jurisdiction to entertain the petition; however, the district court for the district where the petition is filed may transfer the petition to the other district in the furtherance of justice. See id. Federal courts in California traditionally have chosen to hear petitions challenging a conviction or sentence in the district of conviction. See Dannenberg v. Ingle, 831 F.Supp. 767, 768 (N.D. Cal. 1993); Laue v. Nelson, 279 F.Supp. 265, 266 (N.D. Cal. 1968).
Kern County and Vacaville (in Solano County) are both located within the venue of the Eastern District of California. See 28 U.S.C. § 84. Accordingly, in the interest of justice, this case is TRANSFERRED to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.
The Clerk shall transfer this matter forthwith.
IT IS SO ORDERED.