Opinion
CIVIL ACTION NO. RDB-15-252
02-03-2015
SAMUEL EDWARDS #43928-037 Petitioner v. COZZA, CMC, et al., Respondents
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Samuel Edwards ("Edwards") is a self-represented prisoner in federal custody at FCI-Schuylkill, Pennsylvania. In this hybrid action, construed as a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241, Edwards requests money damages against nine FCI-Schuylkill employees and his return to a Residential Reentry Center ("RRC" or "halfway house"). For reasons to follow, the Court SHALL TRANSFER the case to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Edwards did not remit the civil filing fee. As the case is subject to transfer, he shall not be required by this Court to correct this deficiency.
Edwards states he completed the Residential Drug Abuse Program ("RDAP") and entered a Baltimore halfway house on February 19, 2014. He was subsequently taken into custody by the United States Marshal on July 3, 2014, and ultimately returned to FCI-Schuylkill. He claims Defendants will not allow him to return to a halfway house in preparation for his release, based on his arrest on weapons charges in Baltimore on July 3, 2014. (ECF No. 1, p. 1). Edwards includes copies of his letters to various officials indicating that he has "active" criminal cases in the Baltimore City Circuit Court, but no new charges, and that the "active" cases stem from state court convictions that have long since expired. He argues that the named FCI-Schuylkill Defendants have failed to acknowledge their mistake in interpreting the Maryland docket. (ECF No. 1, pp. 2-13).
Examination of Maryland's electronic case docketing system lends some support to Edwards' claim. In Case Nos. 298204034 and 298209032, Samuel Edwards III was sentenced on October 1, 1998 to one year and six months' imprisonment (with the sentence commencing June 4, 1998) after he pled guilty to drug possession. The cases were closed at that time, but became "active" on April 22, 2010, when Edwards filed a petition for writ of coram nobis. In Case No. 805251038, Edwards was sentenced on March 23, 2007 (commencing January 16, 2007) to one year and six months for a violation of probation in an assault case. The case was closed at that time, but "reactivated" on May 4, 2010, when he filed a petition for writ of coram nobis. This same scenario occurred in Case No. 807060030, in which Edwards pled guilty to second-degree assault on June 6, 2007, and was sentenced to one year imprisonment, commencing January 15, 2007. The case was closed at that time, but "reactivated" on May 4, 2010, when Edwards sought coram nobis relief.
See http://casesearch.courts.state.md.us.
Examination of Maryland's case search records does not show any active criminal prosecutions involving Edwards. Nonetheless, this Court lacks jurisdiction to act on the instant Petition, which must be brought in the district in which a petitioner is incarcerated. See In Re Jones, 226 F.3d 328, 332 (4th Cir. 2000).
The "tracking number" referenced in the Petition, No. 002297304PAA, does not correspond to the Maryland electronic docket. Whether the "tracking number" relates to charges, warrants or detainers in another jurisdiction cannot be determined from the limited record presented here.
Edwards also requests money damages, a claim that could be construed as a civil rights action seeking damages pursuant to Bivens, 403 U.S. 388, 392 (1971). This Court is not the proper venue for a Complaint regarding events taking place in Minersville, Pennsylvania. See 28 U.S.C. §1391(b).
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Accordingly, a separate Order shall be entered transferring the Petition to the proper district court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1631 (2000). February 3, 2015
Date
/s/_________
RICHARD D. BENNETT
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE