Lazor v. Atchley ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 FREE LAZOR, Case No. 21-cv-04038-EMC 8 Petitioner, ORDER OF DISMISSAL 9 v. 10 MATTHEW ATCHLEY, et al., 11 Respondent. 12 13 14 Free Lazor, a pro se prisoner detained at Salinas Valley State Prison, filed the instant 15 petition for a writ of habeas corpus (“2021 Petition”). Docket No. 1. The 2021 Petition is now 16 before the Court for review pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2243 and Rule 4 of the Rules Governing 17 Section 2254 Cases in the United States District Courts. 18 The 2021 Petition must be dismissed because the relief sought is not available in a habeas 19 action. Petitioner seeks to obtain photocopies of a previous habeas petition filed in the United 20 States District Court for the Northern District of California. See Pet. at 2. Specifically, Petitioner 21 seeks photocopies of documents filed in Lazor v. Warden CDC Systems, Case No. 5:99-cv-20586- 22 RMW (N.D. Cal. filed June 29, 1999) (“1999 Petition”). See id. Photocopies are not available in 23 habeas. Rather, habeas offers a remedy for those prisoners who seek “‘immediate or speedier 24 release’” from confinement. Skinner v. Switzer, 562 U.S. 521, 533-34 (2011). “Where the 25 prisoner’s claim would not ‘necessarily spell speedier release,’ however, suit may be brought 26 under § 1983.’” Id. A § 1983 action is the exclusive remedy for claims by state prisoners that do 27 not “lie at the ‘core of habeas corpus.’” Nettles v. Grounds, 830 F.3d 922, 931 (9th Cir. 2016) (en 1 DISMISSED. 2 For Petitioner’s benefit, the Court notes that the 1999 Petition was dismissed on February 3 12, 2002. See Docket No. 78, 1999 Petition. The case file for the 1999 Petition was shipped to 4 the Federal Records Center on August 10, 2011. See United State Courts, Judiciary Policies: 5 Court Records, available at https://www.uscourts.gov/rules-policies/judiciary-policies (last visited 6 Dec. 28, 2021) (providing for court records to be sent to the appropriate Federal Records Center 7 after a certain time period). The National Archives provides information regarding how to obtain 8 court documents from the appropriate Federal Records Center. See National Archives, Obtaining 9 Copies of Court Records in the Federal Records Centers, https://www.archives.gov/research/court- 10 records/order-copies (last visited Dec. 28, 2021). 11 12 IT IS SO ORDERED. 13 14 Dated: December 29, 2021 15 16 ______________________________________ EDWARD M. CHEN 17 United States District Judge 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27