Johnson v. Allison
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Karen S. Crawford (author)
Analysis
The court reviewed a pro se state prisoner's petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, noting that the petitioner had been transferred to a different facility. The court sua sponte ordered the substitution of Kathleen Allison, Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, as the Respondent in place of the former wardens.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Substitution of Respondent“The Court HEREBY ORDERS the substitution of “Kathleen Allison, Secretary,” as Respondent in place of former respondents Marion Spearman and Brian Kibler.” | 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 wardens named were no longer the proper respondents. Substituting the Secretary of the CDCR is a standard procedural mechanism in the Ninth Circuit to ensure the petition is directed to the correct custodial authority without requiring the petitioner to file a new petition. |
The order itself: sound — The order correctly identifies the procedural requirement that the respondent must be the current custodian. It cites the correct statutory and rule-based authorities and a relevant Ninth Circuit case supporting the substitution of the Secretary of the CDCR. The reasoning is concise and directly addresses the change in custody.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DAVID LEONARD JOHNSON, Case No.: 19cv1673-LAB (KSC)
12 Petitioner, ORDER SUA SPONTE 13 v. SUBSTITUTING RESPONDENT 14 KATHLEEN ALLISON, Secretary, 15 Respondent. 16 17 On August 30, 2019, Petitioner, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, filed a Petition 18 for a Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, naming Marion Spearman, the 19 Warden of High Desert State Prison in Susanville, California, where Petitioner was 20 confined at the time, as Respondent. (ECF No. 1 at 1.) On October 14, 2021, Petitioner 21 filed a First Amended Petition naming Brian Kibler, the acting Warden of High Desert 22 State Prison at that time, as an additional Respondent. (ECF No. 29 at 1.) On November 23 12, 2021, Petitioner notified the Court that he had been transferred to the California 24 Substance Abuse Treatment Facility in Corcoran, California. (ECF No. 16.) 25 A writ of habeas corpus acts upon the custodian of the state prisoner. 28 U.S.C. 26 § 2242; Rule 2(a), 28 U.S.C. foll. § 2254. Because Petitioner’s place of custody has 27 changed, so has the Respondent to this action. In order to conform with the requirements 28 of Rule 2(a) of the Rules Governing § 2254 Cases and to avoid changing the Respondent 1 Petitioner is transferred again, the Court hereby sua sponte orders the substitution of 2 ||Kathleeen Allison, Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and 3 || Rehabilitation, as Respondent in place of Marion Spearman and Brian Kibler. See Ortiz- 4 || Sandoval v. Gomez, 81 F.3d 891, 894 (9th Cir. 1996) (stating that the respondent in § 2254 5 || proceedings may be the chief officer in charge of state penal institutions). 6 The Court HEREBY ORDERS the substitution of “Kathleen Allison, Secretary,” 7 ||as Respondent in place of former respondents Marion Spearman and Brian Kibler. The 8 ||Clerk of the Court will modify the docket to reflect “Kathleen Allison, Secretary” as 9 || Respondent in place of the former respondents. 10 IT IS SO ORDERED. 11 ||Dated: November 23, 2021 A y /; ) 12 WU LA SSS B Hori. Karen S. Crawford United States Magistrate Judge 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28