Opinion
Civil Action No. 04-2017.
July 26, 2004
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Presently before the Court is a pro se Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus filed by Brian Cohen pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Petitioner is currently incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution in Albion, Pennsylvania ("SCI-Albion"), located in Erie County. For the reasons which follow, the petition should be transferred to the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Petitioner filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in this Court on May 10, 2004. On May 18, 2004, the Honorable William H. Yohn, Jr. ordered the Clerk of this Court to furnish petitioner with the current form for filing a petition under § 2254, and the Court further ordered that petitioner complete this form as directed by Local Rule of Civil Procedure 9.3 and Rule 2(c) of the Rules Governing § 2254 Cases and return it to the Clerk of Court within thirty days to avoid dismissal of this civil action. On May 18, 2004, petitioner filed an "Amended Petition" (Doc. No. 3), but not on the required form. On June 3, 2004, petitioner filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus Under § 2254 (Doc. No. 5) (hereinafter referred to as the "habeas petition") on the proper form, as ordered by Judge Yohn.
Although petitioner was incarcerated in Mercer, Pennsylvania at the time he filed his habeas petition, see Hab. Pet. at 1 (Doc. No. 5), he was recently transferred to SCI-Albion, see Petitioner's Notice of Change of Address (Doc. No. 7) filed 7/12/04.
DISCUSSION
Title 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d) provides:
Where an application for a writ of habeas corpus is 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, the application may be filed in the district court for the district wherein such person is in custody or in the district court for the district within which the State court was held which convicted and sentenced him and each of such district courts shall have concurrent jurisdiction to entertain the application. The district court for the district wherein such an application is filed in the exercise of its discretion and in furtherance of justice may transfer the application to the other district court for hearing and determination.
In the present case, petitioner and his custodian are located in the Western District of Pennsylvania. Although petitioner may have been convicted by a state court within the Eastern District twelve years ago, see Hab. Pet. ¶¶ 1-6, the present petition does not challenge the lawfulness of his underlying convictions. Instead, petitioner challenges subsequent actions of the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole ("Board"). See Hab. Pet. ¶ 12.
As this Court's civil docket reflects, petitioner is incarcerated at SCI-Albion, see Petitioner's Notice of Change of Address filed 7/12/04, in Erie County, Pennsylvania which lies within the venue of the Western District of Pennsylvania. See 28 U.S.C. § 118(c) (listing Erie County as one of the counties composing the Western District). It is also noted that Mercer, Pennsylvania, where petitioner had been incarcerated at the time he filed his petition, is also located in the Western District.See, e.g., Detillo v. J.R. Moore Farm Supply, Inc., 449 F. Supp. 559, 560 (W.D. Pa. 1978) (observing that Mercer, Pennsylvania is located in the Western District); see 28 U.S.C. § 118(c).
Under the circumstances in the present case, it would be more practical and equitable to transfer petitioner's application to the Western District of Pennsylvania since that is where petitioner and his custodian are located. See Gellock v. Freeman, 1987 WL 7208, at *1 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 27, 1987) (transferring § 2254 petition to district where petitioner and custodian were located); Yacoubian v. Petsock, 1986 WL 2564, at *1 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 25, 1986) (same). Among other things, the inconvenience of transferring petitioner from Erie County, Pennsylvania to Philadelphia for any hearings makes the Western District a more appropriate forum. See Gellock, 1987 WL 7208, at *1;Yacoubian, 1986 WL 2564, at *1. Accordingly, this petition should be transferred, in the interest of justice, to the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d). See Gellock, 1987 WL 7208, at *1; Yacoubian, 1986 WL 2564, at *1.
My Recommendation follows.