Opinion
CASE NO. 15cv684-LAB (NLS)
04-03-2015
NORMAN PAUL FELTS, Petitioner, v. WARDEN NOONAN, Respondent.
ORDER SCREENING AND DISMISSING PETITION
Petitioner Norman Felts, a prisioner in federal custody, filed this petition for writ of habeas corpus and paid the $5 filing fee required for habeas petitions. The Prison Litigation Reform Act requires the Court to screen pleadings filed by prisoners and to dismiss them to the extent they are frivolous or malicious or fail to state a claim. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2) and 42 U.S.C. § 1997e.
The petition does not challenge the fact of Felts' confinement, but rather the conditions of his confinement. Felts seeks access to a law library and an opportunity to communicate more easily with his attorney. He asks that the Court order him transferred to the Metropolitan Correctional Center so he can use the library there and use email to communicate with his attorney. Habeas petitions are limited to challenges to the length or legality of confinement. See Hill v. McDonough, 547 U.S. 573, 579 (2006). Challenges to conditions of confinement are properly brought as civil rights actions. See Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 484-86 (1973). See also Alcala v. Rios, 434 Fed. Appx. 668, 669-70 (9 Cir. 2011) (holding that district court properly construed petition challenging the conditions of prisoner's confinement as a civil rights action, not a habeas petition); Greenhill v. Lappin, 376 Fed. Appx. 757, 757 (9 Cir. 2010) (same).
While a court has discretion to construe a mislabeled habeas corpus petition as a civil rights action, it is inappropriate to do so here. See Johnson v. Fed'l Bureau of Prisons, 2013 WL 3467208, at *2 (C.D.Cal., July 9, 2013) (explaining that construing habeas petition as civil rights action may have negative consequences for the petitioner/plaintiff). Furthermore, Felts has only paid the filing fee for a habeas petition, not the $350 fee required for civil actions.
Because it is clear Felts cannot amend his petition to allege new facts making out a habeas claim, it is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. This order does not prevent Felts from filing a civil complaint raising the same claims. If he wishes to file his complaint in this action, he must do so no later than April 22 , 2015 . He must also pay the required filing fee or move to proceed in forma pauperis no later than April 22 , 2015 . Or, if he wishes, he may bring his civil rights claims by filing a separate action.
IT IS SO ORDERED. DATED: April 3, 2015
/s/_________
HONORABLE LARRY ALAN BURNS
United States District Judge