Calderon v. Covello
- Claire
- 3:23-cv-06560
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Calderon v. Covello, Judge Claire transferred a state prisoner’s habeas case to the Northern District of California without deciding his requests.
Juan Carlos Calderon’s federal challenge to his state conviction was transferred to the Northern District of California, where the petition and fee request remained unresolved.
What happened
Calderon v. Covello concerns Juan Carlos Calderon’s challenge to a conviction from the Santa Clara County Superior Court. Calderon, a state prisoner representing himself, filed a petition asking a federal court to review his conviction and requested permission to proceed without paying filing fees.
The court did not decide the petition or the fee request. It transferred the case to the Northern District of California because the witnesses and evidence needed to resolve the challenge were more readily available in Santa Clara County. The court specifically stated that it had not ruled on the request to proceed without paying fees.
Judge Allison Claire issued the order on December 14, 2023. The order’s operative provision transfers the matter to the Northern District of California.
The detailed version
- Calderon v. Covello · No. 3:23-cv-06560
- Claire
- Dec. 18, 2023
Background
Juan Carlos Calderon, identified in the order as a state prisoner proceeding without a lawyer, filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. A habeas application is a request for federal court review of allegedly unlawful custody. The application challenges a conviction issued by the Santa Clara County Superior Court. Calderon also requested permission to proceed without paying filing fees.
Transfer decision
The court explained that, under 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d), both the federal district where the conviction occurred and the district where the prisoner is confined may have jurisdiction over a state prisoner’s habeas application. The court concluded that the witnesses and evidence needed to resolve Calderon’s application were more readily available in Santa Clara County. It therefore ordered that the matter be transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Disposition
The court ordered that it had not ruled on Calderon’s application to proceed without paying filing fees. It also ordered that the matter be transferred to the Northern District of California. The court did not decide the habeas application’s underlying challenge to the conviction. Judge Allison Claire signed the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.