Phillip Camillo-Amisano v. FELICIA PONCE, Warden

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
PHILLIP CAMILLO-AMISANO,
Petitioner-Appellant,
v.
FELICIA PONCE, Warden,
Respondent-Appellee.
No. 21-55877
D.C. No. 2:21-cv-00072-ODW-JDE
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
Otis D. Wright II, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted October 10, 2023 **
Before: S.R. THOMAS, McKEOWN, and HURWITZ, Circuit Judges.
Appellee’s motion to lift the stay in these proceedings is granted. The stay
of this action, entered on November 22, 2022, is lifted.
Federal prisoner Phillip Camillo-Amisano appeals pro se from the district
court’s judgment dismissing his 28 U.S.C. § 2241 habeas petition. We have
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
FILED
OCT 17 2023
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

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jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Reviewing de novo, see Pinson v. Carvajal,
69 F.4th 1059, 1063 (9th Cir. 2023), we affirm.
Camillo-Amisano contends that the district court erred by concluding that
his claim regarding the conditions of his confinement due to the COVID-19
pandemic was not cognizable in a § 2241 habeas petition. Contrary to Camillo-
Amisano’s contention, the fact that he was seeking immediate release is
insufficient to invoke habeas jurisdiction. See id. at 1072-73 (“[A] successful
claim sounding in habeas necessarily results in release, but a claim seeking release
does not necessarily sound in habeas.”). Rather, Camillo-Amisano needed to show
that his detention is without legal authorization. See id. at 1070. Because he failed
to do so, the district court properly dismissed his petition. See id. at 1073-75
(holding that the district court lacked jurisdiction over a § 2241 petition seeking
release on the basis of prison conditions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic).
The record demonstrates that the Department of Justice received and denied
Camillo-Amisano’s request to be transferred to Canada, contradicting his
contention that prison officials intentionally interfered with his transfer request by
taking no action on it.
AFFIRMED.

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