Samm v. Superior Court of Alameda County

Background

Sterling Samm, a state prisoner proceeding without counsel, filed this action under the All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651. He had permission to proceed without paying the filing fee. Samm asked the federal court to order the Alameda County Superior Court to set aside that court’s denial of his motion for entry of default judgment in state case RG20078772, identified in the opinion as Samm v. People of the State of California.

The opinion states that this request arose from the same state-court proceeding as Samm’s earlier federal case, No. 22-cv-02434. In that earlier round, he sought an order requiring the state court to vacate an order setting aside an entry of default judgment.

Court’s Analysis

The court held that it did not have jurisdiction to order the relief Samm requested. The All Writs Act authorizes federal courts to issue certain writs only in aid of jurisdiction that the court already possesses; it does not itself create subject-matter jurisdiction.

The court further explained that, to the extent Samm sought to overturn his state-court criminal conviction through the civil state-court case against former Yolo County prosecutor Kyle Hasapes, his exclusive federal remedy would be a habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. A habeas petition is the procedure used by a state prisoner who challenges the fact or duration of imprisonment and seeks release or a shorter period of imprisonment.

The court also stated that a federal petition seeking mandamus—a writ compelling a state court or official to take or avoid an action—is frivolous as a matter of law. Samm therefore could not obtain a federal writ compelling the Alameda County Superior Court or another state court to act or refrain from acting.

Disposition

The court dismissed Samm’s action with prejudice as frivolous. The provided opinion text does not clearly identify the judge’s full name in the signature block.