Opinion
CV421-053
06-01-2022
ANTAVION LOVE, Petitioner, v. WARDEN, SMITH STATE PRISON, Respondent.
ORDER
Christopher L. Ray United States Magistrate Judge Southern District of Georgia
Antavion Love seeks relief from his state conviction and sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. See doc. 1. His petition reveals that he is incarcerated at Smith State Prison. Id. at 1. It further reveals that he was convicted in Newton County, Georgia. Id. This Court is, therefore, not the proper forum for his petition.
Federal law allows § 2254 petitions to be filed in the district within which the petitioner was convicted or in the district within which he is confined. 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d); Wright v. Indiana, 263 Fed.Appx. 794, 795 11th Cir. 2008). Thus, this Court has jurisdiction over the petition. Nevertheless, it is a 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. Eagle v. Linahan, 279 F.3d 926, 933 n. 9 (11th Cir. 2001); see also Mitchell v. Henderson, 432 F.2d 435, 436 (5th Cir. 1970); Wright, 263 Fed.Appx. at 795. That practice also fosters an equitable distribution of habeas cases between the districts. Newton County lies in the Northern District of Georgia. See 28 U.S.C. § 90(a)(2). Accordingly, this case is TRANSFERRED to the United States District Court for the Northern 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).
Smith State Prison lies in this Court's Statesboro Division. See 28 U.S.C. § 90(c)(6). Since this Order transfers the case to the Northern District of Georgia, whether it was filed in the proper division within the Southern District is moot.
SO ORDERED