Adorno v. Nessigner
- Valerie Caproni
- 1:24-cv-09760
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Adorno v. Nessinger, Judge Caproni ordered the U.S. Attorney’s Office to report transfers before deciding next steps on Adorno’s custody challenge.
Hector Adorno, the respondent Warden Michael Nessinger, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
What happened
In Adorno v. Nessinger, Hector Adorno challenged a prison disciplinary proceeding under a federal law allowing people in custody to seek court review. He asked the court to cancel the disciplinary actions and release him immediately.
Adorno filed the petition while at Wyatt Detention Facility in Rhode Island, but he was later transferred to New York and then to a facility in Oklahoma. The court noted that these petitions generally must be decided where the person is held and where the custodian can be reached by the court.
Judge Valerie Caproni did not decide the petition’s merits. She ordered the U.S. Attorney’s Office to report by January 24, 2025, when Adorno was transferred from Rhode Island to New York and to propose next steps. The Clerk was also ordered to mail Adorno a copy of the order.
The detailed version
- Adorno v. Nessigner · No. 1:24-cv-09760
- Valerie Caproni
- Jan. 6, 2025
Background
Hector Adorno filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, a procedure used to challenge the legality of a person’s custody. The petition was placed in the prison mail system on November 21, 2024, and was later processed in the District of Rhode Island. Adorno was then incarcerated at Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, Rhode Island. He also asked to remain at that facility while the petition was pending.
Adorno’s petition challenges a disciplinary proceeding that occurred while he was at Wyatt. He seeks to have the resulting disciplinary actions vacated and asks for immediate release from custody. After he mailed the petition, he was transferred first to a Residential Re-entry Management Center in New York, New York, and later to FTC Oklahoma City in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The petition was transferred to the Southern District of New York while he was at the New York facility.
Jurisdictional issue
The court cited the general rule that a petition under Section 2241 ordinarily may be decided only in the district where the petitioner is held. It explained that the court must be able to reach the person who has custody of the petitioner through its legal process. The court also stated that Adorno’s petition is treated as filed on November 21, 2024, the date he placed it in the prison mail system.
Order
The court did not decide whether Adorno’s disciplinary-proceeding challenge or request for release has merit. Judge Valerie Caproni ordered the Clerk to notify the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. The office must file, by January 24, 2025, a letter identifying the dates of Adorno’s transfers from Wyatt Detention Facility to the New York Residential Re-entry Management Center and proposing appropriate next steps. The Clerk was also directed to mail Adorno a copy of the order at FTC Oklahoma City.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.