Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_06-cv-02595/USCOURTS-caed-2_06-cv-02595-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Eric Neill
Petitioner
Sacramento County Main Jail
Respondent

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

ERIC NEILL,

Petitioner, No. CIV S-06-2595 MCE EFB P

vs.

SACRAMENTO COUNTY 

MAIN JAIL,

Respondent. ORDER

 /

Petitioner is a state prisoner without counsel seeking a writ of habeas corpus. See 28

U.S.C. § 2254. He alleges that he is being deprived of his right to a speedy trial. He also claims

that his constitutional rights were violated by staff at Sacramento County Main Jail because they

refused to provide him with adequate medical care for a broken cheek bone.

As a general rule, a challenge in federal court to the fact of conviction or the length of

confinement must be raised in a petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. 

See Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475 (1973). A civil rights action, on the other hand, is

appropriate for challenges to the conditions of an inmate’s confinement. Id. at 499. 

Petitioner raises claims regarding both the duration and the conditions of his

confinement. 

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Petitioner’s speedy trial claim is properly brought in a habeas corpus petition. His

medical care claim, however, relates to the conditions of his confinement, and therefore must be

brought in a civil rights action. For the foregoing reasons, the court dismisses petitioner’s

petition with leave to amend. Petitioner may proceed in one of three ways: he may file an

amended petition seeking relief from the alleged deprivation of a speedy trial; he may file

instead a complaint in a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging violations of his

constitutional rights; or he may elect to file both an amended petition and a separately filed civil

complaint. 

Petitioner seeks leave to proceed in forma pauperis. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). The court

will defer ruling on petitioner’s in forma pauperis application until such time as petitioner has

filed either an amended petition or a civil complaint. 

Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

1. The petition is dismissed.

2. Petitioner is granted a period of 30 days from the date this order is served in which to

file an amended petition, a civil rights action, or an amended petition and a separately filed civil

rights action. The Clerk of the Court is directed to send to petitioner a copy each of the forms

used in this court for the filing of an application for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28

U.S.C. § 2254 and for the filing of a civil complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 

3. The court defers ruling on petitioner’s application to proceed in forma pauperis until

such time as petitioner files an amended petition or a civil complaint. 

Dated: November 20, 2007.

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