Opinion
7:02-CV-079-R.
April 24, 2002
ORDER OF DISMISSAL AND SANCTION WITH SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS TO THE CLERK OF COURT
Petitioner, an inmate confined in the Willacy County State Jail in Raymondville, Texas, brings this petition for habeas corpus relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Upon his plea of not guilty in the 232nd Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas, Petitioner was tried by jury and convicted for the offense of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Petition ¶¶ 1-6. He now seeks to challenge the validity of his conviction.
The Federal statute governing venue for habeas corpus petitions provides in pertinent part:
Where an application for a writ of habeas corpus is made by a person in custody under the judgment and sentence of a State court of a State which contains two or more Federal judicial districts, the application maybe filed in the district court for the district wherein such person is in custody or in the district court for the district within which the State court was held which convicted and sentenced him and each of such district courts shall have concurrent jurisdiction to entertain the application. The district court for the district wherein such an application is filed in the exercise of its discretion and in furtherance of justice may transfer the application to the other district court for hearing and determination.28 U.S.C. § 2241(d); accord Story v. Collins, 920 F.2d 1247, 1250-51 (5th Cir. 1991).
Petitioner is currently incarcerated within the geographical boundaries of the Southern District of Texas. He was convicted and sentenced in Harris County which lies within the Southern District of Texas. The Northern District is without jurisdiction to entertain this action.
Moreover, because of his repeated frivolous and malicious filings, James Edward Lewis has been barred from filing complaints, motions and habeas petitions without permission from a District or Circuit Judge.Lewis v. State, 1:02-MC-001-C (N.D. Tex. 2002); Lewis v. State, 6:02-MC-002-C (N.D. Tex. 2002).
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the case is hereby dismissed pursuant to Rule 12(b)(3), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, for being filed in the wrong venue and pursuant to the above cited sanction orders which preclude this filing by Petitioner.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that James Edward Lewis is hereby sanctioned in the amount of $50.00 for his blatant persistence in violating Court orders. See Lewis v. Cockrell, 2:02-CV-143 (S.D. Tex. 2002); Lewis v. Cockrell, 4:02-CV-1342 (S.D. Tex. 2002).
The agency having custody of James Edward Lewis shall withdraw and forward the $50.00 sanction to the Clerk of Court when funds, or any portion of these funds, are available in Plaintiff's inmate trust account. All funds currently held or eventually deposited into Plaintiff's prison trust account shall be forwarded to the Court until the sanction is fully satisfied.
The Clerk shall mail copies of this order to the Petitioner and to the inmate accounting office and all other persons and entities with responsibility for assessing, collecting, and remitting to the Court sanction and filing fee payments on behalf of inmates, as designated by the facility in which Plaintiff is confined.