Amir-Sharif v. Davis

Filing 13

MEMORANDUM ORDER OVERRULING OBJECTIONS AND ADOPTING THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE'S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION. Petitioner's objections are overruled. The findings of fact and conclusions of law are correct and the report and recommendation is adopted. A final judgment will be entered denying the petition. A certificate of appealability shall not issue in this matter. Signed by District Judge Marcia A. Crone on 12/18/18. (mrp, )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
LAKEITH RAQIB AMIR-SHARIF,
Petitioner,
versus
DIRECTOR, TDCJ-ID,
Respondent.

EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
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CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:17-CV-489

MEMORANDUM ORDER OVERRULING OBJECTIONS AND ADOPTING
THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE’S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Lakeith Raqib Amir-Sharif, an inmate confined within the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice, Correctional Institutions Division, proceeding pro se, filed this petition for writ of habeas
corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Petitioner challenges a prison disciplinary conviction.
The court referred this matter to the Honorable Zack Hawthorn, United States Magistrate
Judge, at Beaumont, Texas, for consideration pursuant to applicable laws and orders of the court.
The magistrate judge has submitted a Report and Recommendation of United States Magistrate
Judge recommending the petition be denied with prejudice.
The court has received the Report and Recommendation of United States Magistrate Judge,
along with the record, pleadings, and all available evidence. Petitioner filed objections to the
Report and Recommendation. The court must therefore conduct a de novo review of the
objections in relation to the pleadings and the applicable law.
Inmates charged with prison disciplinary offenses are entitled to certain procedural
safeguards when the punishment imposed implicates a protected liberty interest. Sandin v.
Connor, 515 U.S. 472, 483-84 (1995). However, petitioner did not lose previously earned
good conduct time credits as a result of the disciplinary conviction. As a result, the magistrate
judge correctly concluded the punishment petitioner received did not implicate a protected liberty
interest and that he was therefore not entitled to any procedural safeguards.

ORDER
Accordingly, petitioner’s objections are OVERRULED.

The findings of fact and

conclusions of law of the magistrate judge are correct and the report of the magistrate judge is
ADOPTED. A final judgment will be entered denying the petition. The denial will be without
prejudice to any civil rights claim petitioner may wish to assert based on the facts alleged in his
petition.
In addition, the court is of the opinion petitioner is not entitled to a certificate of
appealability. An appeal from a final judgment denying habeas relief may not proceed unless a
judge issues a certificate of appealability. See 28 U.S.C. § 2253. The standard for a certificate
of appealability requires the petitioner to make a substantial showing of the denial of a federal
constitutional right. See Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 483-84 (2000). In order to make a
substantial showing, the petitioner need not establish that he would prevail on the merits. Rather,
he must demonstrate that the issues raised in the petition are subject to debate among jurists of
reason, that a court could resolve the issues in a different manner, or that the questions presented
are worthy of encouragement to proceed further. See Slack, 529 U.S. at 483-84. Any doubt
regarding whether to grant a certificate of appealability should be resolved in favor of the
petitioner, and the severity of the penalty may be considered in making this determination. See
Miller v. Johnson, 200 F.3d 274, 280-81 (5th Cir. 2000).
In this case, the petitioner has not shown that the issues raised are subject to debate among
jurists of reason. The factual and legal questions raised by petitioner have been consistently
resolved adversely to his position and the questions presented are not worthy of encouragement
.
to proceed further. As a result, a certificate of appealability shall not issue in this matter.
SIGNED at Beaumont, Texas, this 7th day of September, 2004.
SIGNED at Beaumont, Texas, this 18th day of December, 2018.

________________________________________
MARCIA A. CRONE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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