UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

RUSSELL K. HILL, ) ) Petitioner, ) ) v. ) Civil Action No. 23-2270 (UNA) ) UNITED STATES, et al., ) ) Respondents. )

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Petitioner Russell K. Hill is a Mississippi prisoner who currently is incarcerated at the

Marshall County Correctional Facility in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Generally, petitioner

challenges the Mississippi courts’ jurisdiction and demands his immediate release from custody.

A habeas action is subject to jurisdictional and statutory limitations. See Braden v. 30th

Judicial Cir. Ct. of Ky.,

(1973). The proper respondent in a habeas corpus

action is a petitioner’s custodian, who ordinarily is the warden of the facility where a petitioner is

detained. Rumsfeld v. Padilla,

, 434‒35 (2004). And this “district court may not

entertain a habeas petition involving present physical custody unless the respondent custodian is

within its territorial jurisdiction.” Stokes v. U.S. Parole Comm’n,

(D.C. Cir.

2004). The petition neither names petitioner’s custodian as a respondent, nor demonstrates that

the proper respondent is in the District of Columbia.

The Court will grant petitioner’s application to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 2),

deny his motion for a three-judge panel (ECF No. 3), and dismiss his petition (ECF No. 1) without

prejudice for want of jurisdiction. A separate order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.

1 DATE: August 29, 2023 _______________________ CARL J. NICHOLS United States District Judge

2