Lowe v. CoreCivic Board of Directors

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA LANALSIKOV LOWE, Case No. 2:24-cv-01547-JAD-EJY 4 Plaintiff ORDER 5 v. CORECIVIC BOARD OF DIRECTORS, 7 Defendant.

9 Plaintiff, who is incarcerated in the Nevada Southern Detention Center, has submitted a document purporting to be a petition for writ of habeas corpus in this action. ECF No. 1-1. However, Plaintiff’s petition appears to be challenging the conditions of his confinement which are normally raised in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 or Bivens1 action. Plaintiff cannot pursue civil rights claims in a habeas case. See Nettles v. Grounds, 830 F.3d 922, 927 (9th Cir. 2016) (reiterating that “habeas is the exclusive vehicle for claims brought by state prisoners that fall within the core of habeas, and such claims may not be brought in a § 1983 action”); Wilkinson v. Dotson, 544 U.S. 74, 81–82 (2005) (holding that “a state prisoner’s § 1983 action is barred (absent prior invalidation)—no matter the relief sought (damages or equitable relief), no matter the target of the prisoner’s suit (state conduct leading to conviction or internal prison proceedings)—if success in that action would necessarily demonstrate the invalidity of confinement or its duration”). Plaintiff may pursue either his civil rights claims in this case or his habeas claims in this case, but not both. If Plaintiff is trying to pursue both types of claims, he will need to file a different lawsuit for each of his civil rights lawsuit and habeas petition.

23 To help Plaintiff determine which type of lawsuit he is trying to bring in this case, the Court will send Plaintiff forms for both a civil rights action and a habeas action. By September 26, 2024, Plaintiff will file either a civil rights complaint or habeas petition on this Court’s approved form in this case.

1 Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Fed. Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971).

1 Additionally, Plaintiff has neither paid the filing fee for this action nor submitted an application to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”). Plaintiff must pay the filing fee or complete an IFP application. To proceed in forma pauperis, that is, without prepaying the filing fee, Plaintiff must comply with 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) and Local Rule LSR 1-2. This requires Plaintiff to submit three required documents to the Court including: (1) a completed Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis for Inmate, on this Court’s approved form (i.e. pages 1 through 3 with the inmate’s two signatures on page 3), (2) a Financial Certificate properly signed by both the inmate and a prison or jail official (i.e. page 4 of this Court’s approved form), and (3) a copy of the inmate’s prison or jail trust fund account statement for the previous six-month period. Plaintiff must pay the full filing fee for this action or file a fully complete IFP application on this Court’s approved form and submit the required attachments by September 26, 2024, or face possible dismissal of this action.

12 Plaintiff should note the differences in the filing fees between a habeas action ($5) and a civil rights action ($405).

14 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that on or before September 26, 2024, Plaintiff must either pay the filing fee for a civil action ($405) or habeas action ($5) or file with the Court: (1) a complete Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis for Inmate on the Court’s approved form; (2) a Financial Certificate properly signed by both the inmate and a prison or jail official; and (3) a copy of the inmate’s prison or jail trust fund account statement for the previous six- month period.

20 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that if Plaintiff fails to pay the filing fee or file a fully complete IFP application by the deadline, the Court will recommend dismissing this case without prejudice.

22 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that on or before September 26, 2024, Plaintiff must file either a civil rights complaint or habeas petition on this Court’s approved form in this case.

24 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court will send Plaintiff courtesy copies of the Court’s approved forms for (1) an application to proceed in forma pauperis for inmates and instructions; (2) a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 complaint and instructions; and (3) a 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas corpus form and instructions.

3 Dated this 27th day of August, 2024.

ELAYNA J. YOUCHAH 6 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE