Opinion
Civil Action No. 15-127 Erie
06-16-2015
CHARLES WILLIAMS, Petitioner, v. JOHN WETZEL, et. al., Respondents.
OPINION AND ORDER
The Petitioner, Charles Williams, is incarcerated in the State Correctional Institution Forest, located in Marienville, Pennsylvania ("SCI Forest"). Before the Court is his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which he has filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. [ECF No. 6]. In his petition, he is challenging the judgments of sentences imposed upon him in 2006 by the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County. SCI Forest is located within the territorial boundaries of this District. Philadelphia County is located within the territorial boundaries of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 28 U.S.C. § 118.
When a state prisoner files a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in a state like Pennsylvania, that contains two or more Federal judicial districts,
the application may be 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) (emphasis added).
The Petitioner was tried, convicted, and sentenced in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County and, therefore, most, if not all, of the relevant activity occurred within the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. This Court finds that the furtherance of justice, as well as the convenience of the parties, would be better served by transferring this case to the Eastern District Court. This decision is in accordance with the agreed practice of the United States District Courts for the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Pennsylvania, which is to transfer habeas petitions filed by state prisoners in their respective districts to the district in which the county where the judgment of sentence was had is located.
An appropriate Order follows.
/s/ Susan Paradise Baxter
SUSAN PARADISE BAXTER
United States Magistrate Judge
Dated: June 16, 2015 ORDER
AND NOW, this 16th day of June, 2015;
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Clerk of Court shall TRANSFER THIS CASE FORTHWITH to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
/s/ Susan Paradise Baxter
SUSAN PARADISE BAXTER
United States Magistrate Judge