Calton v. Harris

• Court: District Court, District of Columbia
• Decided: May 23, 2023
• Docket: Civil Action No. 2023-1399
• Status: Published

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ____________________________________ ) ALLEN F. CALTON, ) ) Petitioner, ) ) v. ) Civil Action No. 23-01399 (ABJ) ) SCOTT S. HARRIS, ) ) Respondent. ) ____________________________________)

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Petitioner Allen F. Calton is a Texas state prisoner appearing pro se. He seeks a writ of

mandamus against the Clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court, who allegedly has refused to file

petitioner’s “original jurisdiction habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 to Justice Alito” and to

accept his $300.00 filing fee. Pet., ECF No. 1 at 3. As petitioner admits, “the clerk has made clear

that [the] papers” were rejected because “the Supreme Court rules make no provision for the filing

of a petition for an extraordinary writ addressed to an individual Justice.” Id. at 4, citing Ex. A.

Regardless of the reason, “supervisory responsibility” over the Clerk “is exclusive to the

Supreme Court” and “neither a district court nor a circuit court of appeals has jurisdiction to

interfere with it by mandamus or otherwise.” In re Marin, 956 F.2d 339, 340 (D.C. Cir. 1992) (per

curiam). So, this case will be dismissed by separate order for want of jurisdiction. See id.

(affirming “the district court’s order dismissing Marin’s complaint for lack of subject matter

jurisdiction”); Fed. R. Civ. P. 12 (h)(3) (requiring dismissal of the action “at any time” the court

determines that it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction).

AMY BERMAN JACKSON DATE: May 23, 2023 United States District Judge