Bonner v. Covello
- Nathanael Cousins
- 5:20-cv-06205
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Bonner v. Covello, Judge Cousins transferred Bonner’s COVID-19 prison-conditions petition to the Eastern District of California.
Thaddeus Keith Bonner’s federal petition was transferred from the Northern District of California to the Eastern District of California; the order did not resolve his prison-conditions challenge.
What happened
Bonner v. Covello involved Thaddeus Keith Bonner’s federal petition challenging prison conditions that he said placed him at substantial risk of serious harm or death from COVID-19.
Bonner was confined at Mule Creek State Prison and represented himself. The court explained that a petition of this type may be heard where the person was convicted or imprisoned, but that the place of imprisonment is generally the better forum for challenges involving how a sentence is being carried out.
Judge Cousins transferred the case to the Eastern District of California because Mule Creek State Prison is in that district. The clerk was directed to close any pending motions and transfer the entire case file.
The detailed version
- Bonner v. Covello · No. 5:20-cv-06205
- Nathanael Cousins
- Oct. 20, 2020
Background
Thaddeus Keith Bonner, a state prisoner at Mule Creek State Prison, filed a federal petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging prison conditions that he said placed him at substantial risk of serious harm and death because of COVID-19. The opinion states that Bonner was proceeding without a lawyer.
Reasoning
The court explained that venue—the proper federal court location for a case—is available in either the district where the person was convicted or the district where the person is confined. It said the district of confinement is the preferable forum for reviewing how a sentence is being carried out. Mule Creek State Prison is in Ione, California, which is within the Eastern District of California.
Disposition
The court ordered that the petition be transferred under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) and the applicable habeas local rule to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, the district where Bonner was confined. The clerk was directed to terminate any pending motions and transfer the entire file. The order did not decide the merits of Bonner’s challenge to the prison conditions.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.