(HC) Lopez v. Godwin ( 2022 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JORGE MEJIA LOPEZ, Case No. 1:22-cv-00735-SKO-HC 12 Petitioner, ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO AMEND TO NAME A PROPER RESPONDENT AND 13 v. DIRECTING CLERK OF COURT TO SUBSTITUTE ROD GODWIN AS 14 ROD GODWIN, Warden, RESPONDENT 15 Respondent. [Doc. 7] 16 17 Petitioner is a state prisoner proceeding pro se with a petition for writ of habeas corpus 18 pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. On June 16, 2022, Petitioner filed a federal petition for writ of 19 habeas corpus. He did not name a respondent. On June 21, 2022, the Court advised Petitioner 20 that he had failed to name a respondent and granted him leave to amend the respondent in order 21 to avoid dismissal of the action. (Doc. 3.) 22 On July 7, 2022, Petitioner filed a motion to amend the petition. (Doc. 5.) Petitioner again 23 did not name a proper respondent, and the Court granted him a second opportunity to amend the 24 petition. (Doc. 6.) On August 3, 2022, Petitioner filed a motion to amend the petition. (Doc. 7.) 25 Petitioner requests that the Court substitute Rod Godwin, Warden of Pleasant Valley State Prison, 26 as respondent. The warden of a prisoner’s institution of incarceration is a proper respondent, and 27 thus Petitioner has named a proper respondent in this matter. Rule 2 (a) of the Rules Governing 1 Supreme Court, 21 F.3d 359, 360 (9th Cir. 1994). 2 ORDER 3 Based on the foregoing, Petitioner’s motion to amend the petition is GRANTED, and the 4 Clerk of Court is DIRECTED to substitute Rod Godwin as Respondent. 5 IT IS SO ORDERED. 6 7 Dated: August 4, 2022 /s/ Sheila K. Oberto . UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27