Stanley v. Ferguson

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE SLOANE STANLEY, CASE NO. 2:21-cv-01207-JHC-TLF Petitioner, ORDER v. KEVIN HANSON, Respondent.

14 The Court has reviewed the Report and Recommendation, Petitioner’s Objections to Report and Recommendation, the petition for writ of federal habeas corpus relief, and the remaining record. In the Objections to Report and Recommendation, filed February 7, 2022, Petitioner seeks to amend his initial habeas corpus petition to include an additional prayer for relief: “that the State be enjoined from detaining [him].” Dkt. 12 at 2. He argues that this amendment would bring his case outside the Younger abstention doctrine, because it would constitute a challenge to pretrial detention distinct from the underlying criminal prosecution. Id at 3 (citing Arevalo v. Hennessy, 882 F.3d 763 (9th Cir. 2018)). However, Petitioner does not raise any structural arguments with respect to the conditions of his detention, such as the failure to provide a constitutionally sufficient bond hearing, as was the case in Arevalo. Instead, all of l Petitioner’s arguments regarding the illegality of his pretrial detention are grounded in the merits of his case; therefore, the pending state proceedings provide an adequate opportunity for Petitioner to address the federal issues raised in the petition. Accordingly, the proposed amendment does not bring this petition outside the bounds of the Younger abstention doctrine.

5 Further, the Court finds that no reasonable jurist would disagree that a federal court should abstain from interfering with petitioner’s pending criminal proceedings, and that a Certificate of || Appealability should be denied.

9 Accordingly, the Court hereby finds and ORDERS: 10 (1) The Magistrate Judge’s report and recommendation is approved and adopted; 11 (2) Petitioner’s federal habeas corpus petition is DISMISSED without prejudice; and 12 (3) The Clerk is directed to send copies of this Order to Petitioner, to Magistrate Judge 13 Theresa L. Fricke and to any other party that has appeared in this action.

14 Dated this 3rd day of May, 2022 16 4. Chur 17 John H. Chun United States District Judge