Opinion
Civil Action 21-3365 (UNA)
01-10-2022
WILLIAM DAWSON, Plaintiff, v. U.S. JUDGE JAMES C. DEVER III, et al., Defendants.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
TANYA S. CHUTKAN United States District Judge.
Plaintiff, who proceedspro se and in forma pauperis, is a North Carolina state prisoner incarcerated at a facility in Burgaw, North Carolina. He alleges that defendants, one of whom is a United States District Judge, "failed to liberally construe [his] pro se habeas petition, as a claim of actual innocence of first degree murder[.]" Compl. at 1. The only relief he demands is the reduction of his life sentence to time served. See Id. at 3.
The Court construes the complaint as a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Section 2254 authorizes federal courts to "entertain an application for a writ of habeas corpus in behalf of a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court only on the ground that he is in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States." 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Before obtaining review, a petitioner must first exhaust his available state remedies. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(1). Thereafter, he may file an application under § 2254 "in the district court for the district wherein such person is in custody or in the district court for the district [where] the State court was held which convicted and sentenced [petitioner][, ] and 1 each of such district courts shall have concurrent jurisdiction to entertain the application." 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d).
The Court will grant plaintiffs application to proceed in forma pauperis and dismiss the complaint without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction. A separate of dismissal accompanies this Memorandum Opinion. 2