(HC)Lewis v. Nasa, Air Force ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 MICHAEL SHERMAN LEWIS, No. 2:21-cv-0379 AC P 12 Petitioner, 13 v. ORDER 14 NASA, et. al., 15 Respondents. 16 17 Petitioner, an individual who does not appear to be incarcerated,1 has submitted a letter to 18 the court. ECF No. 1. The letter is virtually unintelligible. However, based upon petitioner’s use 19 of the words “habeas coupus [sic]” on the first page of the document (see id. at 1), the court 20 believes that petitioner may be seeking to file a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 21 U.S.C. § 2254. The filing does not itself constitute such a petition, and it may not fairly be 22 construed as such.2 23 Petitioner has not filed an in forma pauperis affidavit or paid the required filing fee 24 ($5.00) for this action, either. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914(a); 1915(a). In order to commence an 25 1 The address on petitioner’s letter appears to be a private address. See ECF No. 1 at 5. 26 Petitioner may, however, be “in custody” for purposes of Section 2254. See, e.g., Spencer v. Kemna, 523 U.S. 1, 8 (1998) (stating parolee’s challenge to validity of conviction satisfies case or 27 controversy requirement for Section 2254 petitioner). 2 In order to clarify the docket, the court will direct the Clerk of Court to recharacterize the 28 document as a letter rather than a habeas petition. 1 || action, a litigant must file a complaint as required by Rule 3 of the Federal Rules of Civil 2 || Procedure, and he must either pay the appropriate filing fee or file an application requesting leave 3 || to proceed in forma pauperis. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1914(a), 1915(a). The court will not issue any 4 | orders granting or denying relief until an action has been properly commenced. 5 For these reasons, petitioner will be ordered to file: (1) a petition for writ of habeas 6 || corpus, and (2) an application to proceed in forma pauperis. In lieu of the latter, petitioner may 7 || pay the appropriate filing fee. The Clerk of Court will be directed to send petitioner copies of 8 | these forms. 9 In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Clerk of Court shall: 10 1. Recharacterize petitioner’s initial filing in this action (ECF No. 1) as a “letter” instead 11 | ofa “petition” on the docket; 12 2. Send petitioner one copy of each of the following: 13 a. An Application to Proceed in District Court Without Prepaying Fees or Costs; 14 b. The appropriate petition for writ of habeas corpus form; 15 c. Petitioner’s letter (ECF No. 1); 16 d. Any new case documents a non-prisoner should receive, and 17 e. The docket of this action. 18 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that within thirty days of the date of this order, petitioner 19 | shall complete and file: 20 1. The application to proceed in forma pauperis. In the alternative, petitioner may pay 21 || the appropriate filing fee, and 22 2. The petition for writ of habeas corpus form. 23 Petitioner is warned that failure to comply with this order will result in a recommendation 24 | that this action be dismissed. 25 || DATED: March 10, 2021 A / 26 ALLISONCLAIRE. 7 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 28