Valod Davoodi v. Christopher Chesnut et al.

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 11 VALOD DAVOODI, No. 1:26-CV-00033-DC-DMC 12 Petitioner, 13 v. ORDER 14 CHRISTOPHER CHESNUT et. al, 15 Respondents. 16 17 Petitioner, an immigration detainee proceeding pro se, filed a petition for a writ of 18 habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 together with an application to proceed in forma 19 pauperis. Examination of the in forma pauperis application reveals that Petitioner is unable to 20 afford the costs of suit. Accordingly, the application to proceed in forma pauperis will be 21 granted. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). 22 The court has conducted a preliminary review of the petition pursuant to Rule 4 of 23 the Rules Governing Habeas Corpus Cases Under Section 2254.1 In light of the complexity of 24 the legal issues involved, the court has determined that the interests of justice require the 25 appointment of counsel for Petitioner and Petitioner’s motion for appointment of counsel will be 26

27 1 Rule 1(b) of the Rules Governing Habeas Corpus Cases Under Section 2254 allows a district court to apply any or all of the rules to other types of habeas corpus petitions including § 2241 28 petitions. 1 granted. See 18 U.S.C. § 3006A(a)(2)(B); see also Weygandt v. Look, 718 F.2d 952, 954 (9th 2 Cir. 1983). 3 Because Petitioner may be entitled to the requested relief if the claimed violation 4 of constitutional rights is proved, Petitioner’s counsel, once appointed, shall meet and confer with 5 respondent’s counsel regarding a briefing schedule for this case. 6 In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 7 1. Petitioner’s motion to proceed in forma pauperis ECF No. 2, is GRANTED 8 and Petitioner is authorized to proceed in forma pauperis without prepayment of the filing 9 fee in this action. 10 2. Petitioner’s motion to appoint counsel, ECF No. 3, is GRANTED and The 11 Federal Defender is appointed to represent Petitioner. 12 3. The Clerk of the Court shall serve a copy of this order, along with a copy 13 of the § 2241 petition, on the Federal Defender, Attention: Habeas Appointment 14 (CAE_Appointments_Habeas@fd.org). 15 4. Within seven days of this order, the appointing authority for the Eastern 16 District of California shall identify counsel and send counsel’s contact information to the 17 undersigned’s courtroom deputy Jodi Palmer at jpalmer@caed.uscourts.gov, and counsel 18 will be added as counsel for Petitioner. If counsel is not a member of the Eastern District 19 of California Criminal Justice Act Panel, within seven days of this Order the Federal 20 Defender shall file a motion to appoint counsel as CJA counsel pro hac vice. 21 5. Additionally, the Clerk of the Court shall serve a copy of this order 22 together with a copy of Petitioner’s application for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 23 U.S.C. § 2241 on the United States Attorney. 24 6. New counsel for Petitioner shall meet and confer with opposing counsel on 25 a briefing schedule and jointly file that schedule with the court within fourteen (14) days 26 of this order. 27 7. In order to ensure this court’s jurisdiction to resolve the pending § 2241 28 petition, Respondent shall not transfer Petitioner outside of this judicial district, pending 1 further order of the court. See 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a) (establishing the All Writs Act which 2 empowers the federal courts to “issue all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of their 3 respective jurisdictions .. . .”); see also F.T.C. v. Dean Foods Co., 384 U.S. 597, 604 4 (1966) (emphasizing that federal courts have the power to “to preserve the court’s 5 Jurisdiction or maintain the status quo by injunction pending review of an agency’s 6 action”). 7 8 || Dated: January 8, 2026 Ss..c0_, ? DENNIS M. COTA 10 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 1] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28