Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-alnd-4_14-cv-00587/USCOURTS-alnd-4_14-cv-00587-0/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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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA

MIDDLE DIVISION

)

JEFFREY LEE HAWKINS, )

)

Petitioner, )

vs. ) Case Number: 4:14-cv-00587-LSC-JHE

)

WARDEN CARTER, et al., )

)

Respondent. )

)

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Jeffrey Lee Hawkins (“Hawkins”) is presently confined at the Decatur Work Release

Facility in Decatur, Alabama. Although Hawkins has styled this case as a petition for a writ of

habeas corpus, the claims and requested relief are congruent with an action pursuant to 42 U.S.C.

§ 1983 for deprivation of constitutional rights because Hawkins contends property was taken

from him in violation of the United States Constitution while in state custody. (Doc. 1 at 7).1

On April 3, 2014, the magistrate judge ordered Hawkins to show cause as to why his case

should not be reclassified under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (Doc. 2). On April 14, 2014, Hawkins filed

his response, stating his wish to proceed with this case as a petition for habeas corpus and

In his petition, filed March 31, 2014, Hawkins charged that his property was taken

1

illegally during a forfeiture hearing at “the county jail,” which violated his due process rights. 

(Doc. 1 at 7). He further alleges he filed several motions to have the property returned and his

mother received “a hearing” on the return of family heirlooms but was denied. (Id.) 

Commander Clifton of the Cherokee County Narcotics Unit allegedly coerced Hawkins’s mother

into filing a motion for return of five guns that had belonged to Hawkins’s father instead of the

twelve she had originally requested and to which, Hawkins asserts, she was entitled. (Id.) 

Commander Clifton also allegedly wrote a letter to the judge on behalf of Hawkins’s mother to

have the five guns returned. (Id.) However, he also asserts that two of the guns were his and the

circuit court disregarded the law in giving his property away. (Id.) He concludes that he “can

prove if given the chance . . . that [his] property and [his] family’s property was taken illegally

and [their] constitutional [rights] were violated in the process.” (Id.) 

FILED

 2014 Apr-18 PM 03:27

U.S. DISTRICT COURT

N.D. OF ALABAMA

Case 4:14-cv-00587-LSC-JHE Document 4 Filed 04/18/14 Page 1 of 2
asserting that it should not be reclassified under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. (Doc. 3). He argued the

taking of his property was not while he was incarcerated, but on the day of the arrest, and

Alabama and federal law are clear that the narcotics agents and Circuit Court of Cherokee

County did not have jurisdiction to do what that they did, citing the Alabama controlled

substances forfeiture statute at Ala. Code § 20-2-93. (Id.)

The law of habeas corpus is also clear. A court “shall entertain an application for a writ

of habeas corpus on behalf of a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a State court only

on the ground that he is in custody in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the

United States.” 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (emphasis added). A § 1983 claim, on the other hand, creates a

civil action for the deprivation of rights under federal law and the U.S. Constitution by those

who are acting under color of law, which will support a claim for damages or injunctive relief. 

See 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

Hawkins does not assert he is in custody in violation of the law but that his property was

taken in violation of federal and state law. The claim he alleges is one under 42 U.S.C. § 1983

and not 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Hawkins has failed to show cause why his claim should not be

reclassified under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and has refused to file an amended complaint with a filing

fee or an application to proceed in forma pauperis; therefore, his petition is due to be

DISMISSED without prejudice. A separate order will be entered.

Done this 18th day of April 2014.

 

L. Scott Coogler 

United States District Judge

[160704]

Case 4:14-cv-00587-LSC-JHE Document 4 Filed 04/18/14 Page 2 of 2