Opinion
22-6678
03-21-2023
THOMAS WALKER LABUWI, II, Petitioner - Appellant, v. ERIC BRADLEY, Warden, Respondent - Appellee.
Thomas Walker Labuwi, II, Appellant Pro Se.
UNPUBLISHED
Submitted: March 16, 2023
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Raleigh. Louise W. Flanagan, District Judge. (5:21-hc-02210-FL)
Thomas Walker Labuwi, II, Appellant Pro Se.
Before WILKINSON, AGEE, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges.
Vacated and remanded by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Thomas Walker Labuwi, II-a federal prisoner who was convicted and sentenced in the Eastern District of North Carolina but who is presently incarcerated in the Northern District of West Virginia-filed a 28 U.S.C. § 2241 petition in the North Carolina district court, which the court denied. A district court may only grant habeas relief within its jurisdiction. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241(a), 2242; Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 442-43 (2004). Because Labuwi is incarcerated in the Northern District of West Virginia, jurisdiction over his § 2241 petition lies in that district-not in the district court below. See Padilla, 542 U.S. at 442-44.
Accordingly, we vacate the district court's order and remand for the district court to determine whether transferring Labuwi's § 2241 petition would serve the interest of justice, see 28 U.S.C. §§ 1406(a), 1631, or whether the petition is more appropriately dismissed without prejudice to refiling in the appropriate district court. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
VACATED AND REMANDED