Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_15-cv-01090/USCOURTS-caed-2_15-cv-01090-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Tony Armstrong
Petitioner
Jeffrey Beard
Respondent
Kamala Harris
Respondent

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

TONY ARMSTRONG,

Petitioner,

v.

KAMALA HARRIS,

Respondent.

No. 2:15-cv-1090 MCE DAD P

ORDER

Petitioner is a state prisoner proceeding pro se with an application for writ of habeas 

corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. He has requested an extension of time to file a traverse. Good 

cause appearing, his request will be granted.

Counsel for respondent has filed a motion seeking to name the proper respondent in this 

action and to terminate the currently named respondent, Kamala Harris, the Attorney General of 

California. Respondent’s counsel is correct that the state’s attorney general is not the proper 

official to name as respondent in this habeas case. “Congress has authorized § 2254 petitioners 

challenging present physical custody to name either the warden or the chief state penal officer as 

a respondent.” Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 450 n.18 (2004). Counsel for respondent 

requests that instead Jeffrey Beard, Secretary of the California Department of Corrections and 

Rehabilitation (CDCR), be named as respondent. 

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Case 2:15-cv-01090-MCE-DB Document 19 Filed 10/14/15 Page 1 of 2
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Applying the decision in Padilla, the court finds the respondent’s motion well-taken. 

Therefore it will be granted.

Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

1. Petitioner’s request for an extension of time (ECF No. 18) is granted.

2. Petitioner shall file a traverse within sixty days from the date of this order. 

3. The motion to name the proper respondent (ECF No. 15) is granted. All future filings 

in this case shall name Jeffrey Beard, Secretary of CDCR, as the respondent. 

4. The Clerk of Court is directed to terminate Kamala Harris as respondent.

Dated: October 13, 2015

hm

arms1090.111

Case 2:15-cv-01090-MCE-DB Document 19 Filed 10/14/15 Page 2 of 2