(HC) West v. California Correctional Health Care Services

Opinion

JOHN DANIEL WEST, No. 2:21-cv-0330-EFB P Petitioner, v. ORDER HEALTH CARE SERVICES, Respondent.

Petitioner is a state prisoner without counsel seeking a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. However, he has neither filed an application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis nor paid the required filing fee ($5.00). See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914(a); 1915(a). Petitioner will be provided the opportunity to either submit a request to proceed in forma pauperis or submit the appropriate filing fee.1 1 Federal courts offer two main avenues to relief on complaints related to one’s imprisonment – a petition for habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, and a civil rights complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Challenges to the validity of one’s confinement or the duration of one’s confinement are properly brought in a habeas action, whereas requests for relief turning on the circumstances of one’s confinement are properly brought in a § 1983 action. Muhammad v. Close, 540 U.S. 749, 750 (2004). If petitioner intends to challenge the conditions of his confinement (as opposed to the duration thereof), he must file a complaint using this court’s form for civil rights actions brought by prisoners. He shall also note that the required filing fee for a civil action is $402. In accordance with the above, IT IS ORDERED that: 1. Petitioner shall submit, within thirty days from the date of service of this order, a request to proceed in forma pauperis or the appropriate filing fee; petitioner’s failure to comply with this order may result in this action being dismissed; and 2. The Clerk of the Court is directed to send petitioner a copy of the in forma pauperis form used by this district. Dated: February 25, 2021. > / EDMUND F. BRENNAN UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 1]