Williams v. Ponce

Filing 14

ORDER to SHOW CAUSE signed by Magistrate Judge Deborah Barnes on 05/31/18 ORDERING that within 30 days of the date of this order, petitioner shall show cause why this action should not be dismissed as moot. (Plummer, M)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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CLARENCE D. WILLIAMS,

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Petitioner,

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No. 2:15-cv-2385 KJM DB P

v.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

FELICIA PONCE,

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Respondent.

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Petitioner is a former federal prisoner proceeding pro se with a petition for a writ of

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habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. Petitioner challenges the Board of Prisons’ refusal to give

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him credit for time spent in a state facility prior to trial. According to the Federal Bureau of

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Prisons’ Inmate Locator1, petitioner was released from prison on February 21, 2017. Petitioner

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did not so inform the court. Nor has he filed a change of address.
Under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, this court does not have jurisdiction to consider

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an action “if there is no longer a live case or controversy” before it. See Cox v. McCarthy, 829

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F.2d 800, 803 (9th Cir. 1987). Where, as in this case, a former prisoner is challenging only his

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term of incarceration, the actions challenged can no longer be remedied in habeas. Id. It appears

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then that this action is moot and this court lacks jurisdiction to consider the petition. Petitioner

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The Inmate Locator can be found at https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/.
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may proceed with this action only if he can show he may suffer continuing collateral

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consequences as a result of the Board of Prisons’ action or if he can establish an exception to the

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mootness doctrine. See Spencer v. Kemna, 523 U.S. 1, 7 (1998) (“[O]nce the convict's sentence

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has expired ... some concrete and continuing injury other than the now-ended incarceration or

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parole—some ‘collateral consequence’ of the conviction—must exist if the suit is to be

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maintained.”).

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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that within thirty days of the date of this order,

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petitioner shall show cause why this action should not be dismissed as moot.

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Dated: May 31, 2018

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DLB:9
DLB1/prisoner-habeas/will2385.osc

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