The following excerpt is from Brown v. Montgomery, Case No.: 19-CV-2021-CAB(WVG) (S.D. Cal. 2020):
"Federal law opens two main avenues to relief on complaints related to imprisonment: a petition for habeas corpus, 28 U.S.C. 2254, and a complaint under the Civil Rights Act of 1871 . . . 42 U.S.C. 1983." Muhammad v. Close, 540 U.S. 749, 750 (2004) (per curiam). "Challenges to the validity of any confinement or to particulars affecting its duration are the province of habeas corpus; requests for relief turning on circumstances of confinement may be presented in a 1983 action." Id. (internal citation omitted). The district court's jurisdiction to provide relief depends on whether a given claim is presented in a habeas petition or a civil rights complaint.
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