Opinion
Civil Action No. 11-cv-01886-BNB
08-26-2011
JASON G. COMPTON, Applicant, v. THE ELBERT COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE, and LT. FIRKO, Respondents.
ORDER CONSTRUING 28 U.S.C. § 2241 ACTION AS A
PRISONER COMPLAINT AND DIRECTING
APPLICANT TO FILE A PRISONER COMPLAINT
Applicant, Jason G. Compton, currently is detained at the Elbert County Jail in Kiowa, Colorado. Mr. Compton, acting pro se, filed an Application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241.
The Court has reviewed the Application filed in this action and finds that Mr. Compton is asserting civil rights claims rather than habeas corpus claims. Mr. Compton complains that he is being denied legal copies and the right to file legal documents. He, therefore, is not challenging the execution of his sentence but the conditions of his confinement.
"It is well-settled law that prisoners who wish to challenge only the conditions of their confinement, as opposed to its fact or duration, must do so through civil rights lawsuits filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 . . . . " See Standifer v. Ledezma, — F.3d —, 2011 WL 3487074 at *3 (10th Cir. Aug. 10, 2011) "The essence of habeas corpus is an attack by a person in custody upon the legality of that custody, and . . . the traditional function of the writ is to secure release from illegal custody." See Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 484 (1973). Accordingly, it is
ORDERED that Mr. Compton cure the deficiencies designated above by filing a Prisoner Complaint and by either paying the remaining balance of the $350.00 filing fee ($345.00) or by filing a Prisoner's Motion and Affidavit for Leave to Proceed Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915 within thirty days from the date of this Order. It is
FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall send to Mr. Compton two copies each of the Court-approved Prisoner Complaint form and the Court-approved Prisoner's Motion and Affidavit for Leave to Proceed Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915. It is
FURTHER ORDERED that if within the time allowed Mr. Compton fails to cure the designated deficiencies the action will be dismissed without prejudice and without further notice.
DATED August 26, 2011, at Denver, Colorado.
BY THE COURT:
Boyd N. Boland
United States Magistrate Judge
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
CERTIFICATE OF MAILING
Civil Action No. 11-cv-01886-BNB Jason G Compton
Elbert County Jail
PO Box 486
Kiowa, CO 80117
I hereby certify that I have mailed a copy of the ORDER and two copies of the Prisoner Complaint form and of the Orisoner's Motion and Affidavit for Leave to Proceed Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1915 to the above-named individuals on August 26, 2011.
GREGORY C. LANGHAM, CLERK
By: __________
Deputy Clerk