James E. Smith v. M. Biter

Filing 24

ORDER DENYING without Prejudice Petitioner's 4 Motion for Return of Original Documents signed by Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on 1/29/2015. (Sant Agata, S)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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JAMES E. SMITH,

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Petitioner,
v.
M. BITER, Warden,
Respondent.

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Case No.: 1:14-cv-00384-LJO-JLT
ORDER DENYING WITHOUT PREJUDICE
PETITIONER’S MOTION FOR RETURN OF
ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS (Doc. 4)

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Petitioner is a state prisoner proceeding in propria persona with a petition for writ of habeas
corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
The petition was filed on March 3, 2014. (Doc. 1). Along with the petition, Petitioner also

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filed a memorandum of points and authorities and various exhibits. (Doc. 3). At the same time,

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Petitioner filed the instant motion for return of original documents, noting that some of the exhibits

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attached to the petition were originals and Petitioner required the return of those original documents

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whenever possible. (Doc. 4).

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On June 2, 2014, Respondent filed a motion to dismiss the petition (Doc. 18), and on January

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15, 2015, the Court issued Findings and Recommendations to grant the motion to dismiss. (Doc. 23).

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The matter has been referred to the District Judge assigned to this case for a decision whether to adopt

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the Findings and Recommendations.

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Regarding Petitioner’s request for the return of his original documents, the Court has no

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provision for copying filed documents and then returning those documents to litigants. In effect, that

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would require the Clerk of the Court to become an informal copy service for litigants. Instead, if a

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litigant wishes to have original filed documents returned to him by the Court, it is a litigant’s

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responsibility not only to have such a procedure authorized by the Court but also to provide the

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necessary postage and to make arrangements with the Clerk of the Court to pay for any copies that

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need to be made in order for the originals to be returned. This is true for all litigants, whether

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prisoners or not. The Court does not operate a copy service at the pleasure of litigants. Accordingly,

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the Court will deny the motion without prejudice. Once the proceedings have been concluded,

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Petitioner can renew his request if he has made appropriate arrangements for paying for the required

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copies from the Clerk of the Court.
ORDER

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For the foregoing reasons, Petitioner’s motion for return of original documents (Doc. 4), is
DENIED without prejudice.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

January 29, 2015

/s/ Jennifer L. Thurston
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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