(HC) Perkins v. Superior Court for the County of San Francisco ( 2019 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 JOHN PERKINS, No. 2:19-cv-1493-EFB P 11 Petitioner, 12 v. ORDER 13 SUPERIOR COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, 14 Respondent. 15 16 17 Mr. Perkins is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel. This action was opened when 18 the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit transferred his petition for a writ of 19 habeas corpus to this court. However, he has not properly commenced a civil action because the 20 petition is not signed and he has neither paid the filing fee nor sought leave to proceed in forma 21 pauperis. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 3; Rule 3, Rules Governing § 2254 Cases; Woodford v. Garceau, 22 538 U.S. 202, 203 (2003). 23 The court cannot conduct the required review of the petition because Mr. Perkins has not 24 signed it. See ECF No. 1. Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires that “[e]very 25 pleading, written motion, and other paper . . . be signed by at least one attorney of record in the 26 attorney’s name—or by a party personally if the party is unrepresented.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(a). 27 Because Mr. Perkins is not represented by counsel and did not sign the petition himself, it will be 28 disregarded. 1 If Mr. Perkins wishes to challenge a judgment of conviction entered against him in state 2 | court, he must file a signed application for a writ of habeas corpus using this court’s form 3 || petition. In addition, Mr. Perkins must either file an in forma pauperis affidavit or pay the 4 | required filing fee ($5.00). See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914(a); 1915(a). Until Mr. Perkins submits a 5 || signed petition and either pays the filing fee or meets the requirements of 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a), 6 | there is simply no case before the court. 7 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 8 1. The Clerk of the Court shall strike the petition (ECF No. 2) from the docket. 9 2. Within 30 days, Mr. Perkins shall file a signed petition using the form employed by 10 this court and stating all claims and prayers for relief. 11 3. Within 30 days of the date of this order, Mr. Perkins shall either pay the $5 filing fee 12 or submit a complete application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis using the form 13 provided. 14 4. Mr. Perkins’s failure to comply with this order may result in this case being closed. 15 5. The Clerk of the Court is directed to send Mr. Perkins the court’s form application for 16 writ of habeas corpus and application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis. 17 | DATED: August 14, 2019. 18 Doutta Sid SH 19 EDMUND F. BRENNAN UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28