Hicks v. Duckworth, 88-2683
Decision Date | 09 September 1988 |
Docket Number | No. 88-2683,88-2683 |
Parties | In the Matter of William HICKS, Petitioner, v. Jack R. DUCKWORTH and Attorney General of Indiana, Respondents. |
Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
William Hicks, Indiana State Prison, Michigan City, Ind., pro se.
Margaret L. Paris, Cotsirilos, Crowley, Stephenson, Tighe & Streicker, Chicago, Ill., for petitioner.
Kermit R. Hilles, Office of the Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, Ind., for respondents.
Before BAUER, Chief Judge, and POSNER and COFFEY, Circuit Judges.
William Hicks, a prisoner in an Indiana state prison, applied to a federal district court in Indiana for habeas corpus, contending that he was being imprisoned in consequence of an unconstitutional conviction that he had received in Nevada--a conviction the Indiana state courts had used to convict him as a habitual offender. Upon motion by the Attorney General of Indiana, the district court ordered the case transferred to a federal district court in Nevada on the ground that a federal district court in Indiana was a "most inconvenient forum to examine a conviction under the State law of Nevada." Hicks has asked us for a writ of mandamus directing Judge Sharp to rescind the order of transfer.
The use of mandamus (28 U.S.C. Sec. 1651(a)) to correct an erroneous transfer out of circuit has been approved. See, e.g., Hoffman v. Blaski, 363 U.S. 335, 340 and n. 9, 80 S.Ct. 1084, 1088 and n. 9, 4 L.Ed.2d 1254 (1960); Roofing & Sheet Metal Services, Inc. v. LaQuinta Motor Inns, Inc., 689 F.2d 982, 987 (11th Cir.1982); Kasey v. Molybdenum Corp. of America, 408 F.2d 16 (9th Cir.1969); In re Josephson, 218 F.2d 174, 180-81 (1st Cir.1954) (Magruder, J.); cf. Norwood v. Kirkpatrick, 349 U.S. 29, 75 S.Ct. 544, 99 L.Ed. 789 (1955); LaBuy v. Howes Leather Co., 352 U.S. 249, 77 S.Ct. 309, 1 L.Ed.2d 290 (1957). It is difficult to see how such an error could be corrected otherwise. The district court to which the case was transferred would be most likely to dismiss it, as in United States ex rel. Chipman v. Duckworth, 674 F.Supp. 1343 (N.D.Ill.1987), so that the application for habeas corpus would wander between circuits like the Ancient Mariner.
And error there was here. The transfer statute, so far as pertinent to this case, authorizes a district court to "transfer any civil action to any other district ... where it might have been brought." 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1404(a). This action could not have been brought in Nevada, because Nevada has no custody over Hicks, a prisoner in Indiana. So at least we held in Marks v. Rees, 715 F.2d 372 (7th Cir.1983) ( ); see also Hanson v. Circuit Court, 591 F.2d 404, 409 (7th Cir.1979); Sammons v. Rodgers, 785 F.2d 1343 (5th Cir.1986); St. John v. Sargent, 569 F.Supp. 696 (N.D.Cal.1983). Hicks might have brought an action for coram nobis there, seeking to vacate an invalid judgment that was having a collateral effect elsewhere, namely in Indiana, after he had been released from custody in Nevada. See, e.g., United States v. Correa-De Jesus, 708 F.2d 1283 (7th Cir.1983); United States v. Keane, 852 F.2d 199 (7th Cir.1988); United States v. Bonansinga, 855 F.2d 476, 477-78 (7th Cir.1988). But no one in the course of this proceeding has mentioned coram nobis, and the question of its possible availability to Hicks is therefore not an...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
In re Ryze Claims Solutions, LLC
...of proper venue escapes meaningful appellate review." In re Mathias , 867 F.3d 727, 729 (7th Cir. 2017) ; see also Hicks v. Duckworth , 856 F.2d 934, 935 (7th Cir. 1988) (holding that mandamus is appropriate "to correct an erroneous transfer out of circuit"). We will issue a writ to reverse......
-
In re Limitnone, LLC
...This court has approved of the use of mandamus to prevent out-of-circuit transfers under 28 U.S.C. § 1404. See Hicks v. Duckworth, 856 F.2d 934, 935 (7th Cir. 1988) ("It is difficult to see how such an error could be corrected otherwise."). The Supreme Court, however, has suggested that man......
-
Hicks v. Duckworth, Civ. No. S 87-740.
...the motion until the Nevada plea agreement transcript was produced. For proceedings related to this issue, see Hicks v. Duckworth, 856 F.2d 934 (7th Cir.1988). Accordingly, the habeas corpus petition was here dismissed with prejudice on February 7, III. ISSUE Was the petitioner placed in do......
-
Sealed Case, In re
...themselves do not provide any basis for such authority, and district courts have no inherent powers to transfer. See Hicks v. Duckworth, 856 F.2d 934, 936 (7th Cir.1988); cf. Lexecon Inc. v. Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, --- U.S. ----, at ---- - ----, 118 S.Ct. 956, at 961-65, 140 L......