William D. Lawson Jr. v. B. Cates

Summary

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California transfers a California prisoner’s 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition to the Eastern District of California. The court holds that venue is proper in the federal district encompassing the county of conviction, Butte County, and orders the Clerk to transfer the case in the interest of justice.

Holdings

1. Although a state habeas petition may be filed in either the district of confinement or the district of conviction, the district of conviction is the proper venue for a petition challenging the validity of the conviction; because Butte County is in the Eastern District of California, transfer to that district was appropriate.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Northern District of California should transfer a § 2254 habeas petition challenging a Butte County conviction to the Eastern District of California, the federal district encompassing the county of conviction.

Disposition

other