Luis Lopez v. State of Nevada

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Nevada grants Luis Lopez's application to proceed in forma pauperis and dismisses his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition without prejudice. The court finds that the petition does not present a cognizable federal habeas claim and appears to be wholly unexhausted, and it denies a certificate of appealability.

Holdings

1. A federal habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 must allege that the petitioner is in custody in violation of the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States; an asserted defect in the enactment or interpretation of state law does not, without more, present a cognizable federal habeas claim.
2. A state prisoner generally must fully exhaust available state-court remedies before seeking federal habeas relief, and a petition presenting wholly unexhausted claims is subject to dismissal.
3. Federal courts generally will not intervene in an ongoing state criminal proceeding absent extraordinary circumstances, and no extraordinary circumstances were presented here.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Lopez's allegation that Nevada statutes were improperly enacted stated a cognizable federal habeas claim under 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
2. Whether the petition was subject to dismissal because Lopez had not exhausted available state-court remedies.
3. Whether extraordinary circumstances justified federal intervention in the state criminal matter.

Disposition

dismissed