Franklin Alexis Linarez Vilchez v. David Kluemper, et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia denied the Government’s motion to dismiss or transfer a 28 U.S.C. § 2241 habeas petition filed by Franklin Alexis Linarez Vilchez. The court held that the unknown-custodian exception permitted jurisdiction and venue in the Southern District of West Virginia because the petitioner’s location and immediate custodian were unknown when the petition was filed. The court ordered the respondents to facilitate the petitioner’s return for a scheduled show-cause hearing.

Holdings

1. The unknown-custodian exception to the immediate-custodian and district-of-confinement rules applies when a detainee's location and custodian cannot be discovered through reasonable inquiry at the time the petition is filed. In that circumstance, the detainee may file in the detainee's last-known location against the ultimate custodian.
2. The Southern District of West Virginia had jurisdiction and was the appropriate venue because Petitioner's arrest and last verified location occurred there, and the district was the only available forum when his location and custodian were unknown.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Southern District of West Virginia had jurisdiction over a core habeas petition filed while an immigration detainee was in transit and his location and immediate custodian were unknown.
2. Whether venue was proper in the Southern District of West Virginia based on Petitioner's arrest and last verified location there.
3. Whether the action should be dismissed or transferred to the Western District of Pennsylvania based on Petitioner's eventual place of confinement.

Disposition

other