Ignacio Canela v. W. L. Montgomery
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Michael S. Berg (author)
Analysis
The court reviewed a petition for writ of habeas corpus filed by a state prisoner who had been transferred to a new facility. The court sua sponte ordered the substitution of the Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as the respondent in place of the previous warden.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Substitution of Respondent“the Court hereby sua sponte ORDERS the substitution of Kathleen Allison, Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, as Respondent in place of “W.L. Montgomery.”” | agree with court The decision follows directly from 28 U.S.C. § 2242 and Rule 2(a) of the Rules Governing § 2254 Cases, which require that the respondent be the person in actual custody of the petitioner. Since the petitioner was transferred, the specific warden is no longer the custodian. Substituting the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is a standard procedural mechanism to ensure the petition remains valid despite future transfers, as supported by Ninth Circuit precedent. |
The order itself: sound — The order correctly identifies the legal requirement that the respondent must be the current custodian. It cites the relevant statute and rule, as well as binding Ninth Circuit authority supporting the substitution of the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to avoid further procedural complications due to transfers. The reasoning is concise and legally sufficient for a procedural sua sponte order.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 IGNACIO CANELA, Case No.: 19cv1434-H (MSB)
12 Petitioner, ORDER SUA SPONTE 13 v. SUBSTITUTING RESPONDENT 14 KATHLEEN ALLISON, Secretary, 15 Respondent. 16 17 On July 17, 2019, Petitioner filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 18 U.S.C. § 2254. (ECF No. 1.) At the time of filing, Petitioner was apparently housed at 19 Calipatria State Prison and thus named W.L. Montgomery, Warden, as Respondent. Based 20 on the notice of change of address Petitioner submitted to the Court on February 8, 2021, 21 it appears Petitioner is no longer housed at Centinela State Prison; rather, it appears he is 22 presently incarcerated at the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility in Corcoran, California. 23 A writ of habeas corpus acts upon the custodian of the state prisoner. See 28 U.S.C. 24 § 2242; Rule 2(a), 28 U.S.C. foll. § 2254. Because Petitioner’s place of custody has 25 changed, so has his custodian. Accordingly, in order to conform with the requirements of 26 Rule 2(a) of the Rules Governing § 2254 Cases and to avoid changing the Respondent 27 again if Petitioner is transferred to another prison or paroled, the Court hereby sua sponte 28 ORDERS the substitution of Kathleen Allison, Secretary of the California Department of 1 || Corrections and Rehabilitation, as Respondent in place of “W.L. Montgomery.” See Ortiz- 2 || Sandoval v. Gomez, 81 F.3d 891, 894 (9th Cir. 1996) (stating that the respondent in § 2254 3 || proceedings may be the chief officer in charge of state penal institutions). The Clerk of 4 || the Court shall modify the docket to reflect “Kathleen Allison, Secretary” as respondent in 5 || place of “W.L. Montgomery.” 6 Dated: February 9, 2021 _ 7 Sf. Honorable Michael S, Berg United States Magistrate Judge 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28