Yovanny Alexis Chacin-Castillo v. Bruce Scott, et al.
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
Analysis
The court determined it lacked jurisdiction over a habeas petition because the petitioner was transferred to California before the petition was filed. The court ordered the case transferred to the Southern District of California and closed the local docket.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Transfer of case to the Southern District of California“Accordingly, the Clerk of the Court is DIRECTED to transfer this case to the Southern District of California for all further proceedings.” | agree with court The court correctly identified that it lacked jurisdiction because the petitioner was not within the district at the time of filing. It properly applied 28 U.S.C. § 1631 to transfer the action to a court where it could have been brought, citing the specific statutory provision (28 U.S.C. § 84(d)) that places Imperial County within the Southern District of California. |
The order itself: sound — The order is procedurally correct and cites the appropriate statutes and case law to support the lack of jurisdiction and the subsequent transfer. The reasoning is concise and directly addresses the jurisdictional defect identified in the respondents' answer.
How this analysis was made · dispute it
inconsistent with cited authorityOpinion
1 2 3 4 5 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 7 YOVANNY ALEXIS CHACIN- CASE NO. 2:26-cv-03165-JNW 8 CASTILLO, 9 Petitioner, ORDER 10 v. 11 BRUCE SCOTT, et al., 12 Respondents. 13 On September 2, 2026, Petitioner Yovanny Alexis Chacin-Castillo’s Next 14 Friend filed a habeas petition on her behalf. Dkt. No. 1. The Court ordered 15 Respondents to show cause why it should not be granted. Dkt. No. 2. On September 16 16, 2026, the Respondents answered that Chacin-Castillo had been transferred to 17 Calexico, California, before the habeas petition was filed. Dkt. Nos. 5; 6. 18 Because Chacin-Castillo was not in this district when the petition was filed, 19 this Court lacks jurisdiction over the petition. Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 20 443 (2004); Zambrano Vivas v. Warden of Nw. ICE Processing Ctr., No. C26-1011- 21 KKE, 2026 WL 938242, at *1 (W.D. Wash. Apr. 7, 2026). As Calexico is in Imperial 22 County California, transfer of the petition to the Southern District of California is 23 1 in the interest of justice. 28 U.S.C.A. § 84(d) (The Southern District of California 9 includes Imperial County); 28 U.S.C. § 1631 (When a civil action is filed in a court 3 that lacks jurisdiction, “the court shall, if it is in the interest of justice, transfer 4 such action” to a court “in which the action... could have been brought at the time 5 it was filed[.]’). G Accordingly, the Clerk of the Court is DIRECTED to transfer this case to the 7 Southern District of California for all further proceedings. After the transfer, the g || Clerk will CLOSE this case.
9 10 Dated this 21st day of September, 2026.
11 12 13 C Aamal N. Whitehead United States District Judge 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23