Jones v. Atchley
- Sallie Kim
- 3:22-cv-01681
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 1
In Jones v. Atchley, Judge Kim transferred Jones’s sentence challenge to the Southern District of California because the sentencing court is there.
Ronnie Jones’s federal petition challenging his sentence was transferred from the Northern District of California to the Southern District of California; the opinion does not decide the sentence challenge.
What happened
Ronnie Jones sought federal review of a sentence imposed by the San Diego County Superior Court. The prison where Jones is incarcerated is in the Northern District of California.
The court explained that either district could hear the case, but challenges to a conviction or sentence are generally heard where the conviction and sentencing occurred. It ordered the petition transferred to the Southern District of California.
Judge Sallie Kim issued the transfer order on March 18, 2022, and directed the clerk to transfer the matter immediately.
The detailed version
- Jones v. Atchley · No. 3:22-cv-01681
- Sallie Kim
- Mar. 18, 2022
Background
Ronnie Jones sought federal habeas review of a sentence imposed by the San Diego County Superior Court. San Diego County is in the Southern District of California. Jones is incarcerated at Salinas Valley State Prison in Monterey County, which is in the Northern District of California.
Venue analysis
The court stated that venue in a habeas action may be proper either in the district where the petitioner is confined or in the district where the conviction and sentencing occurred. However, petitions challenging a conviction or sentence, rather than the execution of a sentence, are preferably heard in the district of conviction and sentencing.
Disposition
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) and Habeas Local Rule 2254-3(b), the court ordered that Jones’s petition be transferred to the United States District Court for the Southern District of California in the interest of justice. The clerk was directed to transfer the matter immediately. Judge Sallie Kim did not decide the underlying challenge to Jones’s sentence.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.