Opinion
Case No. 18-CV-05013 LHK (PR)
10-29-2018
ANDRE JUSTE, Petitioner, v. JEFFEREY B. SESSION, et al., Respondents.
ORDER OF TRANSFER
Petitioner, an immigration detainee, has filed a federal petition for writ of habeas corpus, under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. Petitioner is currently being held at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia, New York. Petitioner's underlying federal habeas petition appears to be challenging his current detention.
Section 2241 allows "the [U.S.] Supreme Court, any justice thereof, the district courts and any circuit judge" to grant writs of habeas corpus "within their respective jurisdictions." 28 U.S.C. § 2241(a). "[F]or core habeas petitions challenging present physical confinement, jurisdiction lies in only one district: the district of confinement." Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 442-43 (2004). Where a petitioner is incarcerated in one state and files a § 2241 petition in a federal district court in another state, therefore, the federal district court lacks jurisdiction over his custodian to effect process or enforce its orders and must accordingly transfer or dismiss the petition. See, e.g., United States v. Giddings, 740 F.2d 770, 771 (9th Cir. 1984) (no jurisdiction in Washington to address a petition where inmate incarcerated in Kansas).
Because petitioner is incarcerated within the Western District of New York, this case is TRANSFERRED to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. See 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). The Clerk shall terminate all pending motions and transfer this matter forthwith.
IT IS SO ORDERED. DATED: 10/29/2018
/s/_________
LUCY H. KOH
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE