Taylor v. Smith et al

Filing 9

ORDER DIRECTING Clerk of Court to Categorize Case as a Civil Rights (PC) Case and Send Petitioner Prisoner New Case Documents for Civil Rights Cases signed by Magistrate Judge Stanley A. Boone on 9/24/2015. (Sant Agata, S)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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JEFFREY LAMONT TAYLOR,

Case No. 1:15-cv-01430-SAB-HC

Petitioner,

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v.

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ORDER DIRECTING CLERK OF COURT
TO CATEGORIZE CASE AS A CIVIL
RIGHTS (PC) CASE AND SEND
PETITIONER PRISONER NEW CASE
DOCUMENTS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS CASES

S. SMITH, et al.,

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Respondents.

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Petitioner is a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a petition for writ of habeas corpus

18 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
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On August 10, 2015, Petitioner filed the instant petition in the Sacramento Division of the

20 United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. (ECF No. 1). Petitioner
21 alleges that he is in the custody of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
22 (“CDCR”), serving a sentence of 28-years-to-life for possession of a controlled substance. It
23 appears that Petitioner alleges that prison officials have denied him access to rehabilitation
24 programs due to his race, disabilities, and retaliation, which is a challenge to the conditions of
25 confinement, not to the fact or duration of that confinement. A civil rights action pursuant to 42
26 U.S.C. § 1983 is the proper method for a prisoner to challenge the conditions of that
27 confinement. See McCarthy v. Bronson, 500 U.S. 136, 141-42 (1991); Preiser, 411 U.S. at 499;
28 Badea, 931 F.2d at 574; Advisory Committee Notes to Rule 1 of the Rules Governing Section

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1 2254 Cases.
On September 22, 2015, the Magistrate Judge in the Sacramento Division construed this

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3 action as one for alleged violations of the Petitioner-Plaintiff’s civil rights under 42 U.S.C. §
4 1983 and transferred the civil rights action to the Fresno Division. (ECF No. 6). As Petitioner’s
5 claims are challenges to the conditions of confinement, this case should be categorized as a
6 prisoner civil rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. At this time, the undersigned states no
7 opinion or finding as to whether the allegations would, if true, amount to a cognizable claim
8 under § 1983 or whether they satisfy the screening requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 1915A.
Accordingly, the Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to categorize this action as a civil rights

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10 (PC) case and to send Petitioner the prisoner new case documents for a civil rights (PC) case.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.

13 Dated:

September 24, 2015
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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