Opinion
Civil Action 24-01743 (UNA)
09-30-2024
MEMORANDUM OPINION
JIA M. COBB United States District Judge
C. Wayne Morgan, a resident of Marengo, Indiana, has filed a perplexing “next friend” Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus to challenge the custody of his son, David Brian Morgan, and “all named Oklahoma inmates, as in the said Writ of Error mentioned.” ECF No. 1. at 2, 4. See Morgan Next Friend for Morgan v. Biden, 2024 WL 1344425 at *1 (D.D.C. Mar. 19, 2024) (taking judicial notice “of the fact that Petitioner's son was convicted in Oklahoma state court” and “is serving a life sentence pursuant to his Oklahoma conviction”).
Morgan has not established his legal authority and qualifications to file on anyone's behalf. See Whitmore v. Arkansas, 495 U.S. 149, 163-64 (1990) (discussing limitations of next friend status in habeas actions and placing the burden “on the ‘next friend' clearly to establish the propriety of his status and thereby justify the jurisdiction of the court”); Morgan Next Friend for Morgan, 2024 WL 1344425 at *1 (“Given the numerous habeas actions David Morgan has filed on his own behalf, Petitioner cannot plausibly ‘provide an adequate explanation-such as inaccessibility, mental incompetence, or other disability-why the real party in interest cannot appear on his own behalf to prosecute the action.' ”) (citations omitted)). Therefore, this case will be dismissed by separate order.