Torres v. Francis
- Andrew Carter
- 1:25-cv-09573
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Jordan Anthony Tamay Torres v. Francis, Judge Carter granted transfer of the Section 2241 petition because Torres was detained in New Jersey when it was filed.
Jordan Anthony Tamay Torres’s Section 2241 petition was transferred from the Southern District of New York to the District of New Jersey; the respondents’ motion to transfer was granted.
What happened
In Jordan Anthony Tamay Torres v. Francis, the petitioner brought a petition under a federal detention law while being held at the Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark, New Jersey. The respondents asked the Southern District of New York to transfer the case to the federal court in New Jersey.
The court found that Torres was already detained in New Jersey when the petition was filed. It therefore concluded that the Southern District of New York lacked authority to hear the petition and that the case belonged in the District of New Jersey.
Judge Carter granted the respondents’ motion to transfer under federal law, cancelled the scheduled telephone conference and the earlier order blocking transfer, and directed the clerk to transfer the case and terminate all pending motions.
The detailed version
- Torres v. Francis · No. 1:25-cv-09573
- Andrew Carter
- Dec. 2, 2025
Background
Jordan Anthony Tamay Torres filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. The opinion states that he was detained at the Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark, New Jersey. On December 1, 2025, the respondents moved to transfer the case to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
The respondents submitted evidence that Torres was booked out of a temporary hold room at 26 Federal Plaza at approximately 1:05 p.m. on November 23, 2025, for transportation to Delaney Hall. He arrived there at approximately 2:00 p.m. and had been detained there since. The court had previously been informed that the petition was received by email at 2:58 p.m. that same day.
Court’s Analysis
The court explained that a federal court must have jurisdiction over the person seeking relief to hear a petition under Section 2241. For a challenge to a person’s physical confinement, jurisdiction generally lies in the federal district where the person is confined. Because Torres was detained in New Jersey when the petition was filed, the Southern District of New York concluded that it lacked jurisdiction over the case.
The court determined that the petition should have been brought in the District of New Jersey and that transfer was in the best interest of justice under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). The court did not decide the underlying issues raised by the petition.
Disposition
Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr. granted the respondents’ motion to transfer. The court cancelled the December 3, 2025 telephone conference and its previous order not to transfer Torres. The clerk was directed to terminate all pending motions and transfer the case to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. The court also waived the seven-day waiting period under Local Civil Rule 83.1 so the case could be transferred promptly.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.