(HC) Chatten-Barkley v. CDCR ( 2022 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 MELISSA CHATTEN-BARKLEY, Case No. 1:21-cv-01714-SAB-HC 12 Petitioner, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION TO GRANT RESPONDENT’S MOTION TO 13 v. DISMISS AND DISMISS PETITION FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS 14 CDCR, ORDER DIRECTING CLERK OF COURT 15 Respondent. TO RANDOMLY ASSIGN DISTRICT JUDGE 16 (ECF No. 6) 17 18 Petitioner is proceeding pro se with a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 19 U.S.C. § 2254. 20 I. 21 BACKGROUND 22 In the instant petition for writ of habeas corpus, Petitioner challenges the California 23 Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s failure to allow her to file a request under 24 California Penal Code section 13891 to resolve her out-of-state detainer. (ECF No. 1.) 25 1 The Interstate Agreement on Detainers (“IAD”), codified by California Penal Code section 1389, is “an agreement between California, 47 other states, and the federal government. It facilitates the resolution of detainers, based on 26 untried indictments, informations or complaints in one jurisdiction, lodged against persons who have ‘entered upon a term of imprisonment’ in another jurisdiction.” People v. Lavin, 88 Cal. App. 4th 609, 612 (2001) (quotation marks 27 and citation omitted). The “IAD establishes a procedure by which a prisoner against whom a detainer has been lodged may demand trial within 180 days of a written request for final disposition[.]” Id. (quotation marks and 1 Respondent has filed a motion to dismiss the petition for failure to name a proper respondent, 2 mootness, lack of federal subject matter jurisdiction, and nonexhaustion. (ECF No. 6.) To date, 3 Petitioner has not filed an opposition or statement of nonopposition to the motion to dismiss, and 4 the time for doing so has passed. 5 II. 6 DISCUSSION 7 A. Mootness 8 Article III of the United States Constitution limits the jurisdiction of federal courts to 9 “actual, ongoing cases or controversies.” Lewis v. Continental Bank Corp., 494 U.S. 472, 477 10 (1990). “This case-or-controversy requirement subsists through all stages of federal judicial 11 proceedings,” which “means that, throughout the litigation, the plaintiff ‘must have suffered, or 12 be threatened with, an actual injury traceable to the defendant and likely to be redressed by a 13 favorable judicial decision.’” Spencer v. Kemna, 523 U.S. 1, 7 (1998) (quoting Lewis, 494 U.S. 14 at 477). 15 Here, Petitioner asserts that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation 16 (“CDCR”) is preventing her from filing a request under California Penal Code section 1389 to 17 have her out-of-state detainer resolved. However, Petitioner has been released from CDCR 18 custody. (ECF No. 6 at 8.)2 Given that Petitioner is no longer in CDCR custody and thus, not 19 suffering from an actual injury traceable to Respondent and likely to be redressed by a favorable 20 judicial decision, the Court finds that no case or controversy exists and the petition should be 21 dismissed as moot.3 22 B. Failure to Prosecute 23 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b), a district court may dismiss an action 24 for failure to prosecute, failure to comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, failure to 25 comply with the court’s local rules, or failure to comply with the court’s orders. See, e.g., 26 Chambers v. NASCO, Inc., 501 U.S. 32, 44 (1991) (recognizing federal court’s inherent power 27 2 Page numbers refer to the ECF page numbers stamped at the top of the page. 3 In light of this determination, the Court will not address the other grounds for dismissal in Respondent’s motion to 1 to “act sua sponte to dismiss a suit for failure to prosecute”); Hells Canyon Preservation Council 2 v. U.S. Forest Serv., 403 F.3d 683, 689 (9th Cir. 2005) (recognizing that courts may dismiss an 3 action pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) sua sponte for a plaintiff’s failure to 4 prosecute or comply with the rules of civil procedure or the court’s orders). 5 It is Petitioner’s responsibility to keep the court advised of her current address at all 6 times. If mail directed to a pro se petitioner is returned by the U.S. Postal Service, and if the 7 petitioner fails to notify the Court within sixty-three days thereafter of a current address, the 8 Court may dismiss the action without prejudice for failure to prosecute. Local Rule 183(b). On 9 February 15, 2022, a court order mailed to Petitioner was returned to the Court as 10 “undeliverable.” Petitioner has not notified the Court of her current address. It has been over 11 sixty-three days since mail was returned by the U.S. Postal Service as undeliverable. Therefore, 12 the petition should also be dismissed for failure to prosecute. 13 III. 14 RECOMMENDATION & ORDER 15 Based on the foregoing, the Court HEREBY RECOMMENDS that: 16 1. Respondent’s motion to dismiss (ECF No. 6) be GRANTED; and 17 2. The petition for writ of habeas corpus be DISMISSED. 18 Further, the Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to randomly assign this action to a District 19 Judge. 20 This Findings and Recommendation is submitted to the United States District Court 21 Judge assigned to the case, pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636 (b)(1)(B) and Rule 304 22 of the Local Rules of Practice for the United States District Court, Eastern District of California. 23 Within THIRTY (30) days after service of the Findings and Recommendation, any party may 24 file written objections with the court and serve a copy on all parties. Such a document should be 25 captioned “Objections to Magistrate Judge’s Findings and Recommendation.” Replies to the 26 objections shall be served and filed within fourteen (14) days after service of the objections. The 27 assigned District Judge will then review the Magistrate Judge’s ruling pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1 | may waive the right to appeal the District Court’s order. Wilkerson v. Wheeler, 772 F.3d 834, 2 | 839 (9th Cir. 2014) (citing Baxter v. Sullivan, 923 F.2d 1391, 1394 (9th Cir. 1991)). 3 4 IT IS SO ORDERED. FA. ee 5 Dated: _ August 23, 2022 ‘ UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28