UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA ALEXANDRIA DIVISION AUDIE EUGENE COUCH, CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:20-CV-518-P Petitioner VERSUS JUDGE DRELL S. MERENDINO, £7 AL., MAGISTRATE JUDGE PEREZ-MONTES Respondent JUDGMENT Before the court are (1) an appeal from the Magistrate Judge’s April 27, 2020 memorandum order (Doc 4) and (2) the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation (Doc. 5) recommending Couch’s petition be denied and dismissed without prejudice as the cited statute, 18 U.S,C, §3626 does not afford him relief and this court lacks jurisdiction to hear any other matters. As to the appeal of the Magistrate Judge’s memorandum order converting Couch’s motion for compassionate release to a petition for habeas corpus, we note that this court does not have jurisdiction to hear the matter directly. The proper court for relief is the sentencing court, not the district where he is confined. Therefore, recharacterization as a petition for habeas corpus was proper. As to Couch’s claims for compassionate release, we have conducted a de novo review of the record, including Couch’s objection to the Report and Recommendation on June 8, 2020 (ECF No. 8), and concur with the Magistrate Judge’s findings. We further note that to the extent Couch seeks release to home confinement under the CARES Act, this and many other courts have previously determined that a district lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate the issue of which inmates should be reassigned

to home confinement under the CARES Act. United States v. Korieocha,

(E.D. La. 2020); United States v. Gentry,

(W.D. La. 2020); United States v. Figueroa Maldonado,

(S.D. Tex. 2020); United States v. Echols,

(N.D. Miss. 2020). A request for consideration for transfer to home confinement under the CARES Act must be made to the BOP, as it is the agency vested with the authority to designate the place of confinement for all

inmates. See

(b). While the CARES Act does increase the parameters of available home confinement for BOP inmates, it does not create a federal cause of action for designation to that program. See 18 U.S.C. 3624(c)(2). For the foregoing reasons, it is hereby ORDERED that Couch’s appeal of the Magistrate Judge’s memorandum order (Doc. 4) is DENIED. It is further ORDERED that the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus under

(ECF No. 1) is hereby DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction, WITHOUT PREJUDICE to Petitioner seeking compassionate release in the court of conviction. THUS DONE AND SIGNED at Alexandria, Louisiana, this day of July 2020. Sse DEE. D. DRELL UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE