Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_14-cv-05480/USCOURTS-cand-3_14-cv-05480-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 560
Nature of Suit: Prisoner Petitions - Civil Detainee - Conditions of Confinement
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

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United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

HERBERT WILLMES,

Plaintiff,

v.

CLIFF ALLENBY, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No. 14-cv-05480-VC (PR) 

ORDER OF TRANSFER

Herbert Willmes is a civil detainee at the Coalinga State Hospital ("Coalinga") proceeding 

pro se. Willmes is detained pursuant to California's Sexually Violent Predator Act ("SVPA") and

has initiated an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, complaining about the conditions of his 

confinement at Coalinga. Defendants are officials of Coalinga and of the California Department of 

Corrections and Rehabilitation in Sacramento. Both Coalinga and Sacramento lie within the venue 

of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. Venue for this case 

therefore lies in the Eastern District. See 28 U.S.C. § 1391. 

Willmes also complains about the validity of his assessment as a sexually violent predator 

under the SVPA, which took place in Santa Clara County. Challenges to the assessment itself are 

the province of a habeas petition, not a civil rights action, because they implicate the validity of his 

detention. See Hill v. McDonough, 547 U.S. 573, 579 (2006) (challenges to the lawfulness of 

confinement or to particulars affecting its duration are the province of habeas corpus); Nelson v. 

Sandritter, 351 F.2d 284, 285 (9th Cir. 1965) (constitutionality of state civil commitment 

proceedings are challenged in federal habeas corpus once state remedies have been exhausted). 

Willmes may challenge the validity of his assessment in this court, but he must do so by way of a 

habeas petition filed in a separate action from this civil rights case, after exhausting state judicial 

remedies. 

Case 3:14-cv-05480-VC Document 7 Filed 01/26/15 Page 1 of 2
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United States District Court

Northern District of California

Accordingly, this case is transferred to the United States District Court for the Eastern 

District of California. See 28 U.S.C. 1404(a), 1406(a). In light of this transfer, the pending motion 

(dkt. 3) to proceed in forma pauperis is deferred to the Eastern District.

The Clerk shall transfer this matter immediately.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: ______________________________________

VINCE CHHABRIA

United States District Judge

January 26, 2015

Case 3:14-cv-05480-VC Document 7 Filed 01/26/15 Page 2 of 2