Sharonoff v. Warden

Filing 51

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Allison Claire on 4/8/2015 DENYING petitioner's 50 request; and the Clerk shall send petitioner a § 1983 civil rights complaint form and the accompanying directions. (Yin, K)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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KENNETH A. SHARONOFF,

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Plaintiff,

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No. 2:13-cv-00794-TLN-AC-P

v.

ORDER

WARDEN,

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Defendants.

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Petitioner is a state prisoner proceeding pro se with an application for a writ of habeas

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corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Petitioner recently filed two documents with the court

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entitled “Notice,” ECF No. 49, and “Motion: Extension of Time,”1 ECF No. 50. Both documents

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allege that plaintiff is currently being mistreated by a physician at the Correctional Treatment

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Center (CTC) at Pleasant Valley State Prison. Specifically, plaintiff alleges that his current

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physician has denied him adequate pain medication, access to the law library, and access to his

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legal mail. He also alleges that his requests to be transferred to the care of another doctor or to

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the general custody of the CDCR have been denied.
Petitioner’s request for relief regarding the treatment he is receiving at CTC essentially

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presents a challenge to the conditions of petitioner’s confinement, which may not be addressed in
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The court notes that this document appears to be a request for a court order rather than a request
for an extension of time. Petitioner currently faces no deadlines that might be extended.
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this habeas action. Habeas jurisdiction exists only for petitioners challenging the legality or

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duration of their incarceration, not the conditions of confinement. Ramirez v. Galaza, 334 F.3d

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850, 859 (9th Cir. 2003). Petitioner is advised that the proper mechanism for raising a federal

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challenge to conditions of confinement is through a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §

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1983. Badea v. Cox, 931 F.2d 573, 574 (9th Cir. 1991).

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To the extent that petitioner requests a court order transferring him out of CTC and back

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into the general population of Pleasant Valley State Prison, see ECF No. 50, petitioner’s request

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is still not cognizable in this habeas action because it does not impact the legality or duration of

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his confinement. See Ramirez, 334 F.3d at 859 (“habeas jurisdiction is absent, and a § 1983

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action proper, where a successful challenge to a prison condition will not necessarily shorten the

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prisoner’s sentence”); see also Wilson v. Wrigley, 2007 WL 1378024 at *2 (E.D. Cal. May 10,

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2007) (petitioner was not entitled to habeas relief under § 2241 because his request to be

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transferred to another institution did not impact the duration of his confinement).

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Should petitioner wish to pursue these claims further, he must first file an administrative

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grievance with the prison and complete the prison grievance process in order to exhaust his

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administrative remedies as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act. 42 U.S.C. § 1997(e)(a);

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McKinney v. Carey, 311 F.3d 1198 (9th Cir. 2002) (the PLRA requires that administrative

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remedies be exhausted prior to filing suit). Petitioner may then seek relief in federal court by

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filing a § 1983 civil rights complaint.

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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

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1. Petitioner’s request for a court order (ECF No. 50) is denied; and

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2. The clerk of the court is directed to send petitioner a § 1983 civil rights complaint

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form and the accompanying directions.
DATED: April 8, 2015

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