MEERTINS v. NEW YORK STATE SUPREME COURT

Filing 2

MEMORANDUM OPINION. See document for details. Signed by Judge Amir H. Ali on 1/6/2025. (lcaha2)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

CLAYTON MARK ANTHONY
MEERTINS, JR.,
Plaintiff,

Civil Action No. 24-03546 (AHA)

v.
NEW YORK STATE SUPREME COURT,
Defendant.

Memorandum Opinion
Plaintiff Clayton Meertins has filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C.
§ 2254. ECF No. 1. The petition appears to challenge Meertins’ state-court conviction in Queens
County, which is located in the Eastern District of New York. Id. at 1. Section 2254 authorizes
federal courts to “entertain an application for a writ of habeas corpus in behalf of a person in
custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court only on the ground that he is in custody in
violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States.” 28 U.S.C. § 2254(a). A state
prisoner may file a § 2254 petition “in the district court for the district wherein such person is in
custody or in the district court for the district [where] the State court was held which convicted
and sentenced him.” Id. § 2241(d).
Meertins’ petition is not properly filed in this Court because he neither is in custody nor
was convicted or sentenced in this District. In the interests of justice, the Court will exercise its
discretion to transfer this matter to the Eastern District of New York, where the state court of
conviction is located. See id. (contemplating transfer to the proper district); Stone v. Nevada, No.
CV 22-214, 2022 WL 741868, at *1 (D.D.C. Mar. 1, 2022) (exercising such discretion in similar

circumstances). The Court notes that Meertins has a similar case, previously transferred from the
Southern District of New York, pending in that district. See Meertins v. N.Y. State Corr. & Cmty.
Supervision, No. 24-cv-06740-LDH-LB (E.D.N.Y.).
A separate order of transfer accompanies this memorandum opinion.
SO ORDERED.

AMIR H. ALI
United States District Judge
Date: January 6, 2025

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