Opinion ID: 186598
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: 27 Normally, the only proper defendant in a habeas case is the petitioner's immediate custodian — that is, the warden of the facility in which the petitioner is incarcerated at the time he files the habeas petition. Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 434, 439, 124 S.Ct. 2711, 159 L.Ed.2d 513 (2004); see also Blair-Bey v. Quick, 151 F.3d 1036, 1039 (D.C.Cir.), modified on reh'g in other respects, 159 F.3d 591 (D.C.Cir.1998) (When a prisoner seeks to challenge parole-related decisions, the warden of the prison . . . is the prisoner's `custodian.'); Chatman-Bey v. Thornburgh, 864 F.2d 804, 811 (D.C.Cir.1988) (en banc) (the proper defendant in federal habeas cases is the warden of the facility where prisoner is incarcerated at the time when he files his petition). 28 In his petition for habeas, Fletcher named his immediate custodian, Dennis Harrison, the Warden at the Lorton Correctional Complex, along with Edward F. Reilly, Jr., Chairman of the U.S. Parole Commission. He therefore complied with the immediate custodian rule. Shortly after filing his petition, however, Lorton was closed pursuant to the Revitalization Act, and Fletcher was transferred to a federal penitentiary in South Carolina. [W]hen the Government moves a habeas petitioner after [he] properly files a petition naming [his] immediate custodian, the District Court retains jurisdiction and may direct the writ to any respondent within its jurisdiction who has legal authority to effectuate the prisoner's release. Stokes v. U.S. Parole Comm'n, 374 F.3d 1235, 1238 (D.C.Cir.2004) (quoting Padilla, 542 U.S. at 441, 124 S.Ct. 2711 (explaining Ex parte Endo, 323 U.S. 283, 65 S.Ct. 208, 89 L.Ed. 243 (1944))). The Commission has legal authority to effectuate Fletcher's release, so it is a proper respondent in this case. Indeed, the U.S. Parole Commission has appeared in this case, responded to the merits of Fletcher's claim, and raised no objections on grounds of venue or personal jurisdiction. See Chatman-Bey, 864 F.2d at 813 (It is, of course, elementary that a defense of improper venue or lack of personal (as opposed to subject matter) jurisdiction is waived unless the defense is asserted . . . .). 29 We also note that the Commission, or the United States in its stead, might have sought to substitute the Warden of the federal penitentiary in South Carolina where Fletcher is now incarcerated. In Crawford v. Jackson, 323 F.3d 123 (D.C.Cir.2003), a case involving circumstances similar to those here, the court held that it had jurisdiction over a habeas petition properly filed by a petitioner in custody at the Lorton Correctional Complex prior to its closure. The United States entered an appearance in Crawford and advised the court that it waived any objection to lack of personal jurisdiction, and consented to substitute the Warden at FCI Petersburg, Stephen M. Dewalt, as the custodian of appellant/petitioner Curtis E. Crawford. Id. at 126 (internal citations omitted). The same can be done here when the case is remanded to the District Court if the United States deems this to be a prudent course. The main point here is that, because Fletcher named his immediate custodian when he filed his petition for habeas, and the Commission is within the jurisdiction of the District Court and has authority to effectuate Fletcher's release on reparole, the District Court has jurisdiction to consider Fletcher's habeas petition. 30 Because complaints by D.C.Code offenders about detention resulting from decisions of a parole board are complaints regarding a detention aris[ing] out of process issued by a State court, 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A) (2000), this court's jurisdiction is limited to the issues certified for appeal, in this case the District Court's dismissal of Fletcher's ex post facto claim. See Madley v. U.S. Parole Comm'n, 278 F.3d 1306, 1310 (D.C.Cir.2002). 31 The District of Columbia, appearing on behalf of appellee Harrison, takes no position on the merits of Fletcher's ex post facto claim, but asks this court to affirm the District Court's dismissal of the petition as to Harrison. The petition contains no allegation of wrongdoing by any District of Columbia officials, and Harrison is no longer Fletcher's Warden. Furthermore, the D.C. Board of Parole no longer exists, so Fletcher can obtain no redress from the District of Columbia. We therefore affirm the dismissal of Fletcher's claims against the District of Columbia defendant. See Fletcher I, 370 F.3d at 1225 n. .