CLARK v. LAUGHLIN

Filing 3

ORDER transferring 1 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus filed by Charles Clark, Jr. to the Middle District of Georgia. Signed by Magistrate Judge G. R. Smith on 4/25/18. (wwp) [Transferred from gasd on 4/25/2018.]

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
SAVANNAH DIVISION
CHARLES CLARK, JR.
Petitioner,
v.
VANCE LAUGHLIN, Warden, and
STATE BOARD OF PAROLE AND
PROBATION,
Respondents.

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CV418-038

ORDER
Charles Clark, Jr., who is detained at Wheeler Correctional
Facility, attacks a Bibb County conviction and sentence for robbery by
sudden snatching pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Doc. 1. It is not clear
why he filed his petition in this Court’s Savannah Division, as Wheeler
County lies within the Court’s Dublin Division, 28 U.S.C. § 90(c)(2), and
Bibb County lies in the Middle District of Georgia, 28 U.S.C. 90(b)(2).
Federal law allows his petition to be filed in the district within which he
was convicted or in the district within which he is confined. 28 U.S.C. §
2241(d); Wright v. Indiana, 263 F. App’x 794, 795 (11th Cir. 2008).

Hence, this Court and the Middle District concurrently have jurisdiction
to hear his case.
It is longstanding judicial policy and practice to funnel such
petitions into the district within which the state prisoner was convicted,
since that will be the most convenient forum. Mitchell v. Henderson, 432
F.2d 435, 436 (5th Cir. 1970); see Wright, 263 F. App'x at 795. That also
fosters an equitable distribution of habeas cases between the districts.
The Court therefore concludes that this case should be transferred to the
Middle District. Hence, it DIRECTS the Clerk to transfer this case to
the Middle District of Georgia for all further proceedings. See 28 U.S.C.
§ 1404(a) (permitting a district court to transfer any civil action to
another district or division where it may have been brought for the
convenience of parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice); Rufus
v. Kemp, 2013 WL 2659983 at * 1 (S.D. Ga. June 12, 2013).
SO ORDERED, this 25th day of April, 2018.

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