Kornegay v. Warden John/Jane Doe
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-04756
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Kornegay v. Warden John/Jane Doe, Judge Swain transferred the habeas petition to West Virginia because the petitioner was confined there.
Raymond Kornegay, whose detention petition was transferred from the Southern District of New York to the Northern District of West Virginia.
What happened
Raymond Kornegay, who was incarcerated at FCI Gilmer in West Virginia, filed a self-represented petition challenging his detention and seeking release. The petition was brought under a federal law allowing challenges to detention.
The court explained that a detention challenge generally belongs in the district where the person is confined because that court has authority over the custodian. FCI Gilmer is in the Northern District of West Virginia.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the case transferred to that district and closed the Southern District of New York case. The Northern District of West Virginia will decide whether Kornegay may proceed without paying filing fees, and the court denied fee-free status for any appeal from the transfer order.
The detailed version
- Kornegay v. Warden John/Jane Doe · No. 1:23-cv-04756
- Laura Swain
- June 8, 2023
Background
Raymond Kornegay, who was incarcerated at FCI Gilmer in Glenville, West Virginia, filed a self-represented petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. He challenged his detention and sought release. The named respondent was Warden John/Jane Doe.
Reason for Transfer
For a petition under Section 2241, the court must have authority over the person responsible for the petitioner’s custody. A challenge to physical confinement generally belongs in the federal district where the petitioner is confined. Because FCI Gilmer is located in the Northern District of West Virginia, the Southern District of New York concluded that the Northern District was the proper venue. The court relied on 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), which permits transfer in the interest of justice.
Ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk of Court to transfer the action to the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia. The order closed the Southern District of New York case. It stated that the transferee court would decide whether Kornegay could proceed without paying fees. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal from the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.