Maclin v. Rewerts

Filing 4

ORDER TRANSFERRING CASE to the Western District of Michigan. Signed by District Judge George Caram Steeh. (DPer)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION
ROSS MACLIN, #148084,
Petitioner,
CASE NO. 2:20-CV-11530
HON. GEORGE CARAM STEEH

v.
RANDEE REWERTS,
MICHIGAN DEP’T OF CORR.,
Respondents.
_______________________________/

ORDER OF TRANSFER
Ross Maclin (“Petitioner”), a state prisoner currently confined at the
Carson City Correctional Facility in Carson City, Michigan, has filed a pro
se petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241, along
with a request for an emergency injunction and placement in alternative
incarceration due to his risk of illness or death due to COVID-19. Petitioner
was convicted of first-degree felony murder following a jury trial in the
Detroit Recorder’s Court and was sentenced to life imprisonment without
the possibility of parole in 1979. He previously filed a habeas petition
challenging that conviction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, but his petition
was dismissed as untimely. See Maclin v. Robinson, No. 2:00-CV-70655
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(E.D. Mich. April 24, 2001). Petitioner is not challenging his conviction or
sentence in the instant petition, but rather is seeking alternative
incarceration or release due to the ongoing pandemic.
A state prisoner in a state that has two or more federal judicial
districts may file a habeas petition in the district where the prisoner is in
custody or in the district where the prisoner was convicted and sentenced.
28 U.S.C. § 2241(d). The district having custody of the prisoner and the
district where the prisoner was convicted and sentenced have concurrent
jurisdiction to entertain the application. Id. Moreover, the court in the
district where the petition was filed may, in the exercise of its discretion and
in furtherance of justice, transfer the application to the other district for a
hearing and determination. Id.; see also 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) ("For the
convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice, a district
court may transfer any civil action to any other district or division where it
might have been brought.").
Petitioner was convicted in Wayne County, which lies in the Eastern
District of Michigan, but he is not attacking his conviction in this case.
Instead, his petition and related requests are solely challenging the
conditions of his confinement due to the spread of COVID-19 at his place

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of incarceration in Carson City, Montcalm County, Michigan, which lies in
the Western District of Michigan. See 28 U.S.C. § 102(b)(1). He also
names as respondents the warden at his prison and the Michigan
Department of Corrections, both of whom are located in the Western
District of Michigan.
Because of the potential inconvenience and expense of moving
Petitioner between his facility and this court for any hearings and because
the entirety of his petition relates to acts and witnesses within the confines
of the Western District of Michigan, the Court finds that the Western District
of Michigan is a more convenient and appropriate venue for this action and
the interests of justice are served by a transfer of the case to that court.
See Starnes v. McGuire, 512 F.2d 918, 931 (D.C. Cir. 1974); see also
Barrera v. Decker, No. 20-CV-2755 (VEC), 2020 WL 1686641, *1 (S.D.N.Y.
April 7, 2020) (Southern District of New York lacked venue over habeas
petitioner's claim that his health condition put him at imminent risk of
contracting COVID-19, where the petitioner was incarcerated in New
Jersey).
Accordingly, the Court directs the Clerk’s Office to TRANSFER this
case to the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan.

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“Given the significant liberty interests at stake, the time-sensitivity of
Petitioner’s claims, and the risks to Petitioner’s health posed by the rapid
spread of COVID-19,” the court directs the Clerk’s Office to effectuate the
transfer as soon as possible. See Barrera, 2020 WL 1686641, *1.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
s/George Caram Steeh
HON. GEORGE CARAM STEEH
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated: June 30, 2020
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
Copies of this Order were served upon attorneys of record on
June 30, 2020, by electronic and/or ordinary mail and also on
Ross Maclin #148084, Carson City Correctional Facility
10274 Boyer Road, Carson City, MI 48811.
s/Karri Sandusky
Deputy Clerk

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