Okoth v. Chestnut
- James Donato
- 3:25-cv-10766
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 1
In Bovin Okoth Marco v. Christopher Chestnut, Judge Donato transferred the immigration-detention habeas case to the Eastern District of California.
Bovin Okoth Marco’s federal detention challenge was transferred from the Northern District of California to the Eastern District of California; the order did not resolve the legality of his detention.
What happened
Bovin Okoth Marco v. Christopher Chestnut is a petition challenging Marco’s detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under a federal law allowing courts to review detention. He was detained at the California City Detention Facility in Kern County, which is in the Eastern District of California.
Because the petition was filed while Marco was detained there, the court determined that the case belonged in the Eastern District of California.
Judge Donato ordered the case transferred to that district. The order did not decide whether Marco’s detention was lawful.
The detailed version
- Okoth v. Chestnut · No. 3:25-cv-10766
- James Donato
- Dec. 18, 2025
Background
Bovin Okoth Marco filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, a federal law that allows a detained person to challenge the legality of detention. He challenged his detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the California City Detention Facility in Kern County, California. The opinion states that the facility is in the Eastern District of California and that Marco filed the petition while detained there.
Ruling
The court transferred the case to the Eastern District of California because that was the district where Marco was detained. It cited 28 U.S.C. §§ 1406(a) and 2241(a), along with a Ninth Circuit decision. The order addressed the proper district for the case and did not decide the merits of Marco’s detention challenge.
Disposition
Judge James Donato ordered the case transferred to the Eastern District of California.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.