Opinion
Civil Action No. 15-1609 (UNA)
02-17-2016
Melvin Lee Luckey, Plaintiff, v. United States of America et al., Defendants.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, is a North Carolina state prisoner incarcerated in Maury, North Carolina. He alleges that the United States and an individual in North Carolina conspired to deny him access to the court by "fail[ing] to liberally construe his 2254 habeous [sic] out of time as a colorable claim of actual innocence [.]" Compl. at 1. Plaintiff asks this Court to "set aside" his convictions and re-sentence him. Id. at 2. The Court will grant the accompanying application to proceed in forma pauperis and, for the reasons explained below, will dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction.
Federal court review of a sentence imposed by a state court is available under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 after the exhaustion of state remedies. See 28 U.S.C. §2254(b)(1). Thereafter, "an application for a writ of habeas corpus [] made by a person in custody under the judgment and sentence of a State court . . . may be filed in the district court for the district wherein such person is in custody or in the district court for the district [where the sentencing court sits] and each of such district courts shall have concurrent jurisdiction to entertain the application." 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d). Plaintiff must pursue habeas relief in an appropriate court in North Carolina. See Williams v. Hill, 74 F.3d 1339, 1340 (D.C. Cir. 1996) (finding it "well-settled that a prisoner seeking relief from his conviction or sentence may not bring [ ] an action" for injunctive and declaratory relief) (citations omitted)). Hence this civil action will be dismissed without prejudice. A separate Order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion. DATE: February 17, 2016
/s/_________
United States District Judge