Scott v. Lowe
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-07697
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Scott v. Lowe, Judge Swain transferred Scott’s detention petition to Pennsylvania because she was detained there.
Tonia Scott, whose petition was transferred to the Middle District of Pennsylvania; the transferee court will decide whether she may proceed without paying fees.
What happened
In Scott v. Lowe, Tonia Scott, who was detained in Pike County, Pennsylvania, filed a self-represented petition under federal law challenging her pending criminal proceedings. She raised speedy-trial and jurisdiction arguments, including that the alleged conduct occurred on tribal lands.
The court explained that a petition challenging physical confinement generally must be heard in the federal district covering the place of confinement because that court has authority over the custodian. Pike County is in Pennsylvania’s Middle District, so the Southern District of New York did not decide whether Scott’s claims were valid or ready for review.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the case transferred to the Middle District of Pennsylvania and closed it in the Southern District of New York. The transferee court will decide whether Scott may proceed without paying fees. The court also denied no-fee status for any appeal, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Scott v. Lowe · No. 1:22-cv-07697
- Laura Swain
- Sept. 9, 2022
Background
Tonia Scott, proceeding without a lawyer, filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 challenging criminal proceedings pending in the Court of Common Pleas of Pike County. She was detained at Pike County Correctional Facility in Lords Valley, Pennsylvania. Scott alleged, among other things, that her right to a speedy trial had been violated and that the prosecutor lacked jurisdiction because the acts occurred on tribal lands.
The order states that Scott was not currently subject to a state-court judgment, so a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 was not available to her. Instead, the court treated her filing as a petition under § 2241, a procedure for challenging certain forms of custody before a final judgment.
Reasoning
The court explained that a federal court hearing a § 2241 petition must have jurisdiction over the petitioner’s custodian. A petition challenging physical confinement generally belongs in the federal district where the petitioner is confined. Scott was detained in Pike County, which is located in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The court therefore determined that transferring the petition to that district was in the interest of justice.
The court expressly stated that it was not deciding whether the petition was ready for review. It also did not decide the merits of Scott’s speedy-trial, tribal-lands, or other challenges.
Disposition
The Clerk of Court was directed to transfer the action to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The order closed the case in the Southern District of New York. The transferee court—not the Southern District of New York—will decide whether Scott may proceed without paying filing fees. The court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied no-fee status for purposes of an appeal. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.