Rocha v. Cannon

Full title: MARCO ANTONIO ROCHA JR., Applicant, v. HOSEA CANNON JR., Chaplain, and…

Court: UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO

Date published: Apr 30, 2012

Civil Action No. 12-cv-01106-BNB (D. Colo. Apr. 30, 2012)

Opinion

Civil Action No. 12-cv-01106-BNB

04-30-2012

MARCO ANTONIO ROCHA JR., Applicant, v. HOSEA CANNON JR., Chaplain, and GARRY WILSON, Sheriff, Respondents.

Boyd N. Boland

ORDER CONSTRUING 28 U.S.C. § 2241 ACTION AS A

PRISONER COMPLAINT AND DIRECTING

APPLICANT TO FILE A PRISONER COMPLAINT

Applicant, Marco Antonio Rocha Jr., currently is detained at the Denver County Jail in Denver, Colorado. Mr. Rocha, acting pro se, filed an Application for a Writ of Habeas Corpus Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241.

The Court has reviewed the Application filed in this action and finds that Mr. Rocha is asserting civil rights claims rather than habeas corpus claims. Mr. Rocha complains that he is being denied his right to practice his religion. He, therefore, is not challenging the execution of his sentence but the conditions of his confinement.

"It is well-settled law that prisoners who wish to challenge only the conditions of their confinement, as opposed to its fact or duration, must do so through civil rights lawsuits filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 . . . ." See Standifer v. Ledezma, --- F.3d ---, 2011 WL 3487074 at *3 (10th Cir. Aug. 10, 2011) "The essence of habeas corpus is an attack by a person in custody upon the legality of that custody, and . . . the traditional function of the writ is to secure release from illegal custody." See Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 484 (1973). Accordingly, it is

ORDERED that Mr. Rocha cure the deficiency designated above by filing his claims on a Court-approved form used in filing prisoner complaints. It is

FURTHER ORDERED that Mr. Rocha shall obtain the Court-approved Prisoner Complaint form (with the assistance of his case manager or the facility's legal assistant), along with the applicable instructions, at www.cod.uscourts.gov for use in filing a Prisoner Complaint. It is

FURTHER ORDERED that if Mr. Rocha fails to cure the designated deficiency within the time allowed the action will be dismissed without further notice.

DATED April 30, 2012, at Denver, Colorado.

BY THE COURT:

Boyd N. Boland

United States Magistrate Judge