Williams v. Box

Filing 4

ORDER TRANSFERRING CAUSE TO THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI. CASE CLOSED. Signed by District Judge Debra M. Brown on 9/12/14. (cr) [Transferred from Mississippi Northern on 9/12/2014.]

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
GREENVILLE DIVISION
RAYMOND WILLIAMS, JR.
V.

PETITIONER
NO. 4:14-CV-133-DMB-SAA

ALICIA BOX

RESPONDENT

ORDER TRANSFERRING CAUSE TO THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT
COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
This matter comes before the Court, sua sponte, for consideration. On September 9, 2014,
Petitioner, a Mississippi inmate in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections
(“MDOC”), filed an action contesting MDOC’s calculation of his sentence of imprisonment.
Because the instant action “attacks the manner in which a sentence is carried out or the prison
authorities’ determination of its duration,” the Court has construed it under the general habeas
statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2241. Pack v. Yusuff, 218 F.3d 448, 451 (5th Cir. 2000).
Petitioner is currently housed at the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility in Woodville,
Mississippi. He does not identify the crime(s) for which he is currently incarcerated, but inmate
information obtained from MDOC’s website indicates that he is currently serving a seven-year
sentence for burglary, and a five-year sentence for delivery of a controlled substance.1 According
to the information provided on the penitentiary’s website, both convictions were obtained in the
Circuit Court of Harrison County, Mississippi. The Court finds that both Harrison County,
Mississippi, and Wilkinson County, Mississippi, are located in the Southern District of Mississippi.
See 28 U.S.C. § 104(b) (listing counties within Southern District of Mississippi).

1

See http://www.mdoc.state.ms.us/ (follow “Inmate Search” hyperlink; search “Raymond
Williams”) (last visited September 10, 2014).

Because Mississippi has two federal judicial districts, the instant application is proper
either in the district court for the district where Petitioner is in custody, or in the district court for
the district wherein sits the State court that convicted and sentenced Petitioner. See 28 U.S.C. §
2241(d). Since Petitioner is contesting the calculation of sentences he received in the Circuit Court
of Harrison County, Mississippi, which is in the Southern District of Mississippi, and he is in
custody in Wilkinson County, Mississippi, which is also in the Southern District of Mississippi, the
Court will transfer the instant application to the Southern District for determination. See id.
Accordingly, in the exercise of this Court’s discretion and in the furtherance of justice, it is
hereby ORDERED that this civil action is transferred to the United States District Court for the
Southern District of Mississippi.
THIS the 12th day of September, 2014.

/s/Debra M. Brown
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

2