Littlejohn v. Whitmer

• Decision Date: 07 August 2020
• Docket Number: Case No. 2:20-cv-130
• Parties: JUIVONNE LITTLEJOHN, Petitioner, v. GRETCHEN WHITMER et al., Respondents.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Michigan

JUIVONNE LITTLEJOHN, Petitioner, v. GRETCHEN WHITMER et al., Respondents.

Case No. 2:20-cv-130

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN NORTHERN DIVISION

August 7, 2020

Honorable Paul L. Maloney

OPINION

This is a habeas corpus action brought by a state prisoner under 28 U.S.C. § 2241.¹ Promptly after the filing of a petition for habeas corpus, the Court must undertake a preliminary review of the petition to determine whether "it plainly appears from the face of the petition and any exhibits annexed to it that the petitioner is not entitled to relief in the district court." Rule 4, Rules Governing § 2254 Cases; see 28 U.S.C. § 2243. If so, the petition must be summarily dismissed. Rule 4; see Allen v. Perini, 424 F.2d 134, 141 (6th Cir. 1970) (district court has the duty to "screen out" petitions that lack merit on their face). A dismissal under Rule 4 includes those petitions which raise legally frivolous claims, as well as those containing factual allegations that are palpably incredible or false. Carson v. Burke, 178 F.3d 434, 436-37 (6th Cir. 1999). Afterundertaking the review required by Rule 4, the Court will dismiss the petition without prejudice for failure to exhaust available state-court remedies.

Discussion

I. Factual allegations

Petitioner Juivonne Littlejohn is incarcerated with the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) at the Baraga Correctional Facility (AMF) in Baraga, Michigan. Following a jury trial in the Ingham County Circuit Court, Petitioner was convicted of first-degree murder, in violation of Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.316, and armed robbery, in violation of Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.529. On April 12, 2000, the court imposed a sentence of 40 to 60 years on the armed robbery conviction and life imprisonment on the murder conviction.²

On July 22, 2020, Petitioner filed his habeas corpus petition. The petition alleges that the risk of infection arising from the COVID-19 pandemic³ has put Petitioner in imminent danger. (Pet., ECF No. 1, PageID.9.) Petitioner asks the Court to order Defendant Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to commute his sentence. In short, Petitioner seeks immediate release from custody.

II. Availability of § 2254 relief for unconstitutional conditions of confinement

Petitioner's request for relief is not a typical habeas petition. The Supreme Court has made clear that constitutional challenges to the fact or duration of confinement are the propersubject of a habeas corpus petition rather than a complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Preiser v. Rodriguez, 411 U.S. 475, 499 (1973). Constitutional challenges to the conditions of confinement, on the other hand, are proper subjects for relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Id. The Preiser Court, however, did not foreclose the possibility that habeas relief might be available even for conditions of confinement claims:

This is not to say that habeas corpus may not also be available to challenge such prison conditions. See Johnson v. Avery, 393 U.S. 483, (1969); Wilwording v. Swenson, supra, at 251 of 404 U.S. . . . When a prisoner is put under additional and unconstitutional restraints during his lawful custody, it is arguable that habeas corpus will lie to remove the restraints making the custody illegal. See Note, Developments in the Law—Habeas Corpus, 83 Harv. L. Rev. 1038, 1084 (1970).[]

Preiser, 411 U.S. at 499 (footnote omitted).

But, the Court has also never upheld a "conditions of confinement" habeas claim. Indeed, in Muhammad v. Close, 540 U.S. 749 (2004), the Court acknowledged that it had "never followed the speculation in Preiser . . . that such a prisoner subject to 'additional and unconstitutional restraints' might have a habeas claim independent of § 1983 . . . ." Id. at 751 n.1.

The Sixth Circuit has concluded that claims regarding conditions of confinement are properly brought under § 1983 and are not cognizable on habeas review. See Martin v. Overton, 391 F.3d 710, 714 (6th Cir. 2004) ("'Petitioner in this case appears to be asserting the violation of a right secured by the federal Constitution or laws by state prison officials. Such a claim is properly brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.'"); In re Owens, 525 F. App'x 287, 290 (6th Cir. 2013) ("The criteria to which Owens refers involves the conditions of his confinement . . . . This is not the proper execution of sentence claim that may be pursued in a § 2254 petition."); Hodges v. Bell, 170 F. App'x 389, 392-93 (6th Cir. 2006) ("Hodges's complaints about the conditions of his confinement . . . are a proper subject for a § 1983 action, but fall outside of the cognizable core of habeas corpus relief."); Young v. Martin, 83 F. App'x107, 109 (6th Cir. 2003) ("It is clear under current law that a prisoner complaining about the conditions of his confinement should bring suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983."). Petitioner's claims regarding the constitutionality of his custody in the prison because of risks posed by COVID-19 are principally claims regarding the conditions of his confinement. Such claims should be raised by a complaint for violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

However, the relief Petitioner seeks—release from custody—is available only upon habeas corpus review. "The Supreme Court has held that release from confinement—the remedy petitioner[] seek[s] here—is 'the heart of habeas corpus.'" Wilson, 961 F.3d at 868 (quoting Preiser, 411 U.S. at 498).⁴ A challenge to the fact or duration of confinement should be brought as a petition for habeas corpus and is not the proper subject of a civil rights action brought pursuant to § 1983. See Preiser, 411 U.S. at 484 (the essence of habeas corpus is an attack by a person in custody upon the legality of that custody and the traditional function of the writ is to secure release from illegal custody). Undoubtedly, for that reason, Petitioner has sought habeas relief.

Petitioner's decision to pursue habeas relief, however, circumscribes the relief available. Wilson, 961 F.3d at 837. Even if there might be conditions of confinement, short of release, that would mitigate the risk—and eliminate the cruel or unusual character of the punishment—it is not within this Court's habeas jurisdiction to grant such relief. Id. A claim seeking relief other than release is properly brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

III. Prisoner Dennis Wynn

Petitioner also includes the name of prisoner Dennis Wynn as a petitioner. Dennis Wynn, however, has not signed the petition. Under Rule 2(c)(5) of the Rules Governing § 2254Cases, the petition must be signed by the petitioner or by a person authorized to sign the petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2242. Section 2242 further provides that a habeas petition must be signed by "the person for whose relief it is intended or by someone acting on his behalf." A "next friend" does not himself become a party to the habeas corpus action in which he participates, but simply pursues the cause on behalf of the detained person, who remains the real party in interest. Whitmore v. Arkansas, 495 U.S. 149, 163 (1989).

To act on a prisoner's behalf, a putative next friend must demonstrate that the prisoner is unable to prosecute the case on his own behalf due to "inaccessibility, mental incompetence, or other disability" and that the next friend is "truly dedicated to the best interests of the person on whose behalf he seeks to litigate." Whitmore v. Arkansas, 495 U.S. 149, 163-64 (1990); see also West v. Bell, 242 F.3d 338, 341 (6th Cir. 2001); Franklin v. Francis, 144 F.3d 429, 432 (6th Cir. 1998). The burden is on the next friend "clearly to establish the propriety of his status and thereby justify the jurisdiction of the court." Whitmore, 495 U.S. at 164.

Standing to proceed as next friend on behalf of a prisoner "is by no means granted automatically to whomever seeks to pursue an action on behalf of another." Id. at 163. "A next friend may not file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of a detainee if the detainee himself could file the petition." Wilson v. Lane, 870 F.2d 1250, 1253 (7th Cir.1989) (citing Weber v. Garza, 570 F.2d 511, 513 (5th Cir.1978)). The putative next friend must clearly and specifically set forth facts sufficient to satisfy the Art. III standing requirements because "[a] federal court is powerless to create its own jurisdiction by embellishing otherwise deficient allegations of standing." Whitmore, 459 U.S. at 155-56. Most significantly, "when the application for habeas corpus filed by a would be 'next friend' does not set forth an adequate reason or explanation of thenecessity for resort to the 'next friend' device, the court is without jurisdiction to consider the petition." Weber, 570 F.2d at 514 (cited with approval in Whitmore, 495 U.S. at 163).

Here, Petitioner has not met his burden. He has not shown why prisoner Wynn cannot file the habeas petition on his own behalf nor has Petitioner shown how he is qualified to serve as Wynn's next friend. Accordingly, the petition is properly filed only on Petitioner's behalf. The Court will not consider the petition as filed on behalf of prisoner Wynn.

IV. Exhaustion of State Court Remedies

Before the Court may grant habeas relief to a state prisoner, the prisoner must exhaust remedies available in the state courts. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(b)(1); O'Sullivan v. Boerckel, 526 U.S. 838, 842 (1999). Exhaustion requires a petitioner to "fairly present" federal claims so that state courts have a "fair opportunity" to apply controlling legal principles to the facts bearing upon a petitioner's constitutional claim. Id. at 844, 848; see also Picard v. Connor, 404 U.S. 270, 275-77 (1971); Duncan v. Henry, 513 U.S. 364, 365 (1995); Anderson v. Harless, 459 U.S. 4, 6 (1982). To fulfill the exhaustion requirement, a petitioner must have fairly presented his federal claims to all levels of the state appellate system, including the state's highest court. O'Sullivan, 526 U.S. at 845; Wagner v. Smith, 581 F.3d 410, 414 (6th Cir. 2009); Hafley v. Sowders, 902 F.2d 480, 483 (...