Local Rule 190: PETITIONS FOR HABEAS CORPUS AND MOTIONS PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. §§ 2254 & 2255

RULE 190 (Fed. R. Civ. P. 81)

PETITIONS FOR HABEAS CORPUS AND MOTIONS PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. §§ 2254 & 2255

(a) Scope of This Rule. All petitions for writs of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 and motions filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 shall be subject to the provisions of this Rule unless otherwise ordered by the Court.

(b) Form of Petitions and Motions. The petition or motion shall be signed under penalty of perjury, and, if presented in propria persona, upon the form and in accordance with the instructions approved by the Court. Copies of the forms and instructions shall be supplied by the Clerk upon request. In the event a petition or motion is submitted that is not in the proper form, the Clerk shall forthwith transmit the proper form and instructions to the person submitting the petition or making the motion.

(c) Filing. Petitions and motions shall be addressed to the Clerk of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, 501 "I" Street, Sacramento, California 95814, or 2500 Tulare Street, Fresno, California 93721, according to L.R. 120(b). No petition or motion shall be addressed to an individual Judge or Magistrate Judge.

(d) Assignment. Petitions and motions shall be assigned by the Clerk pursuant to L.R. 122, provided that motions under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 shall, if possible, be assigned to the sentencing Judge or Magistrate Judge. If, in the same matter in this Court, the petitioner has previously filed a petition for relief or for a stay of enforcement, the new petition shall be assigned to the Judge or Magistrate Judge who considered the prior matter.

(e) Contents.

(1) All petitions by state prisoners shall state with specificity that all issues raised in the petition, either:

(A) have been raised before all state tribunals in which the issues could be heard, to the exhaustion of petitioner's state remedies; or

(B) have not been raised before all state tribunals in which the issues could be heard, in which case the petition shall also set forth all facts which justify the failure to exhaust state remedies.

(2) All petitions shall state whether or not petitioner has previously sought relief arising out of the same matter from this Court or any other federal court, together with the ruling and reasons given for denial of relief.

(f) State Court Habeas Transcripts. Due to the size of state court records, the Attorney General should, if possible, file habeas corpus transcripts and other state court records in electronic format along with a mandatory courtesy copy for chambers in paper. If the Attorney General cannot provide an electronic copy, a certified paper copy shall be filed concurrently with electronic filing of a Notice of Filing in Paper Format. These state court records will be returned to the Attorney General at the conclusion of the action, if no appeal is filed, and after appeal or further proceedings in the district court as appropriate. If the Attorney General and the Clerk agree, the state court records may be discarded by the Clerk.

(g) Where Relief Is Granted. If relief is granted on a petition of a state prisoner, or if any stay of execution of state court judgment is issued by the Court, the Clerk shall forthwith notify the state authority having jurisdiction over the prisoner of the action taken.