Hill v. United States

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

RUSSELL K. HILL, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

v. ) Civil Action No. 23-2270 (UNA)

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UNITED STATES, et al., )

)

Respondents. )

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Petitioner Russell K. Hill is a Mississippi prisoner who currently is incarcerated at the Marshall County Correctional Facility in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Generally, petitioner challenges the Mississippi courts’ jurisdiction and demands his immediate release from custody.

A habeas action is subject to jurisdictional and statutory limitations. See Braden v. 30th Judicial Cir. Ct. of Ky., 410 U.S. 484, 495 (1973). The proper respondent in a habeas corpus action is a petitioner’s custodian, who ordinarily is the warden of the facility where a petitioner is detained. Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 434‒35 (2004). And this “district court may not entertain a habeas petition involving present physical custody unless the respondent custodian is within its territorial jurisdiction.” Stokes v. U.S. Parole Comm’n, 374 F.3d 1235, 1239 (D.C. Cir. 2004). The petition neither names petitioner’s custodian as a respondent, nor demonstrates that the proper respondent is in the District of Columbia.

The Court will grant petitioner’s application to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 2), deny his motion for a three-judge panel (ECF No. 3), and dismiss his petition (ECF No. 1) without prejudice for want of jurisdiction. A separate order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.

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DATE: August 29, 2023 _______________________ CARL J. NICHOLS

United States District Judge