Hughes v. United States

Background

John Hughes, identified as an inmate at the Federal Correctional Complex in Allenwood, filed a motion seeking to correct or reduce the terms of his prison sentence. The motion invoked 18 U.S.C. § 3585(b)(1)(2). The opinion states that Hughes filed the motion on July 7, 2022.

Conversion to a § 2241 proceeding

The court explained that a challenge to the execution of a prison sentence—that is, how the sentence is being carried out—must be brought as a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. The court further explained that such a petition must be brought against the applicable Bureau of Prisons warden in the federal district where the inmate is incarcerated.

Because converting the motion into a § 2241 petition could create obstacles for a later or successive petition, the court had to give Hughes an opportunity to reject the conversion. On July 20, 2022, the court ordered that it would convert the motion and transfer the case to the Middle District of Pennsylvania unless Hughes objected by August 31, 2022. The opinion states that Hughes did not object.

Disposition

The court ordered the clerk to convert Hughes’s motion into a petition under § 2241 and transfer the case to the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The order did not decide whether Hughes was entitled to correction or reduction of his sentence. The court also directed the clerk to notify the Criminal Divisions of the United States Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of New York and the Middle District of Pennsylvania, mail a copy of the order to Hughes as a self-represented litigant, and record the mailing on the docket.