Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_18-cv-00789/USCOURTS-casd-3_18-cv-00789-2/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 530
Nature of Suit: Prisoner Petitions - Habeas Corpus
Cause of Action: 28:2254 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (State)

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18cv0789-CAB (BGS)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

JEFFREY STEVEN McCREARY,

Petitioner,

v.

RALPH DIAZ, Secretary,

Respondent.

Case No.: 18cv0789-CAB (BGS)

ORDER SUA SPONTE 

SUBSTITUTING RESPONDENT

On April 23, 2018, Petitioner, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, filed a Petition for 

a Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254, naming M.E. Spearman, the 

Warden of the High Desert State Prison in Susanville, California where Petitioner was 

confined at the time, as Respondent, along with the California Attorney General as an 

additional Respondent. (ECF No. 1.) On October 23, 2019, Petitioner notified the Court 

he had been transferred to the California Correctional Institution at Tehachapi, California. 

(ECF No. 30.)

A writ of habeas corpus acts upon the custodian of the state prisoner. 28 U.S.C. 

§ 2242; Rule 2(a), 28 U.S.C. foll. § 2254. Because Petitioner’s place of custody has 

changed, so has the Respondent to this action. In order to conform with the requirements 

of Rule 2(a) of the Rules Governing § 2254 Cases and to avoid changing the Respondent 

if Petitioner is transferred again, the Court hereby sua sponte orders the substitution of 

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Ralph Diaz, Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, as 

Respondent in place of Stuart Sherman. See Ortiz-Sandoval v. Gomez, 81 F.3d 891, 894 

(9th Cir. 1996) (stating that the respondent in § 2254 proceedings may be the chief officer 

in charge of state penal institutions). Additionally, the Attorney General of the State of 

California is not a proper respondent in this action. Rule 2 of the Rules following § 2254 

provides that the state officer having custody of the petitioner shall be named as respondent. 

Rule 2(a), 28 U.S.C. foll. § 2254. However, “[i]f the petitioner is not yet in custody – but 

may be subject to future custody – under the state-court judgment being contested, the 

petition must name as respondents both the officer who has current custody and the

attorney general of the state where the judgement was entered.” Rule 2 (b), 28 U.S.C. foll. 

§ 2254. Here, there is no basis for Petitioner to have named the Attorney General as a 

respondent in this action.

The Court HEREBY ORDERS the substitution of Ralph Diaz, Secretary of the 

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as Respondent in place of M.E. 

Spearman and the California Attorney General. The Clerk of the Court will modify the

docket to reflect “Ralph Diaz, Secretary” in place of the former respondents.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: December 4, 2019

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