Michael Corey Slaughter v. Tammy L. Campbell, Warden, California State Prison - Corcoran

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California grants Michael Corey Slaughter’s unopposed motion to substitute Danny Samuel, Warden of the California Men’s Colony–San Luis Obispo, for Tammy L. Campbell as the named respondent in the federal habeas action. The court holds that the petitioner’s transfer between state prisons does not affect the court’s jurisdiction, which attached when the habeas petition was filed.

Holdings

1. A petition for a writ of habeas corpus by a person in custody under a state-court judgment must name the state officer who has custody of the petitioner; because Slaughter was currently confined at the California Men's Colony, Danny Samuel, its warden, was the proper respondent.
2. A petitioner's transfer to another correctional facility and the resulting change in custodian do not destroy federal habeas jurisdiction when jurisdiction attached upon the initial filing and the challenged state-court judgment was rendered within the district's territorial jurisdiction.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the warden of the correctional facility currently holding a state habeas petitioner should be substituted as the named respondent after the petitioner is transferred during the federal habeas proceeding.
2. Whether the petitioner's transfer to another facility destroyed the federal court's jurisdiction over the habeas proceeding.

Disposition

other