Lowe v. CoreCivic Board of Directors ( 2024 )

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 3 LANALSIKOV LOWE, Case No. 2:24-cv-01547-JAD-EJY 4 Plaintiff ORDER 5 v. 6 CORECIVIC BOARD OF DIRECTORS, 7 Defendant. 8 9 Plaintiff, who is incarcerated in the Nevada Southern Detention Center, has submitted a 10 document purporting to be a petition for writ of habeas corpus in this action. ECF No. 1-1. However, 11 Plaintiff’s petition appears to be challenging the conditions of his confinement which are normally 12 raised in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 or Bivens1 action. Plaintiff cannot pursue civil rights claims in a habeas 13 case. See Nettles v. Grounds, 830 F.3d 922, 927 (9th Cir. 2016) (reiterating that “habeas is the 14 exclusive vehicle for claims brought by state prisoners that fall within the core of habeas, and such 15 claims may not be brought in a § 1983 action”); Wilkinson v. Dotson, 544 U.S. 74, 81–82 (2005) 16 (holding that “a state prisoner’s § 1983 action is barred (absent prior invalidation)—no matter the 17 relief sought (damages or equitable relief), no matter the target of the prisoner’s suit (state conduct 18 leading to conviction or internal prison proceedings)—if success in that action would necessarily 19 demonstrate the invalidity of confinement or its duration”). Plaintiff may pursue either his civil 20 rights claims in this case or his habeas claims in this case, but not both. If Plaintiff is trying to pursue 21 both types of claims, he will need to file a different lawsuit for each of his civil rights lawsuit and 22 habeas petition. 23 To help Plaintiff determine which type of lawsuit he is trying to bring in this case, the Court 24 will send Plaintiff forms for both a civil rights action and a habeas action. By September 26, 2024, 25 Plaintiff will file either a civil rights complaint or habeas petition on this Court’s approved form in 26 this case. 27 1 Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Fed. Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971). 1 Additionally, Plaintiff has neither paid the filing fee for this action nor submitted an 2 application to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”). Plaintiff must pay the filing fee or complete an 3 IFP application. To proceed in forma pauperis, that is, without prepaying the filing fee, Plaintiff 4 must comply with 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) and Local Rule LSR 1-2. This requires Plaintiff to submit 5 three required documents to the Court including: (1) a completed Application to Proceed in Forma 6 Pauperis for Inmate, on this Court’s approved form (i.e. pages 1 through 3 with the inmate’s two 7 signatures on page 3), (2) a Financial Certificate properly signed by both the inmate and a prison 8 or jail official (i.e. page 4 of this Court’s approved form), and (3) a copy of the inmate’s prison or 9 jail trust fund account statement for the previous six-month period. Plaintiff must pay the full 10 filing fee for this action or file a fully complete IFP application on this Court’s approved form and 11 submit the required attachments by September 26, 2024, or face possible dismissal of this action. 12 Plaintiff should note the differences in the filing fees between a habeas action ($5) and a civil rights 13 action ($405). 14 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that on or before September 26, 2024, Plaintiff 15 must either pay the filing fee for a civil action ($405) or habeas action ($5) or file with the Court: 16 (1) a complete Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis for Inmate on the Court’s approved 17 form; (2) a Financial Certificate properly signed by both the inmate and a prison or jail official; 18 and (3) a copy of the inmate’s prison or jail trust fund account statement for the previous six- 19 month period. 20 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that if Plaintiff fails to pay the filing fee or file a fully complete 21 IFP application by the deadline, the Court will recommend dismissing this case without prejudice. 22 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that on or before September 26, 2024, Plaintiff must file either 23 a civil rights complaint or habeas petition on this Court’s approved form in this case. 24 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court will send Plaintiff courtesy copies 25 of the Court’s approved forms for (1) an application to proceed in forma pauperis for inmates and 26 27 1 instructions; (2) a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint and instructions; and (3) a 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas 2 corpus form and instructions. 3 Dated this 27th day of August, 2024. 4 5 ELAYNA J. YOUCHAH 6 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