Mark Porras v. G. Lewis

MEMORANDUM

California state prisoner Mark A. Porras appeals from the district court’s judgment denying his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2553 . We review the district court’s decision to deny Porras’s habeas petition de novo, see Nevarez v. Barnes, 749 F.3d 1124, 1127 (9th Cir.) (per curiam), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 295 , — L.Ed.2d - (2014), and we affirm.

In 2002, Porras pled guilty to three felonies and was sentenced to 16 years. On June 13, 2007, he was validated as an associate of a prison gang and assessed an indeterminate term in the Secured Housing Unit (“SHU”). In January 2010, California Penal Code section 2933.6 was amended to deny conduct credits for inmates who are housed in the SHU and are validated gang members or associates. Porras contends that his right to be free from ex post facto laws was violated because his release date was extended when prison officials applied the statutory amendment to him. The state court’s rejection of this claim was not contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, clearly established Supreme Court precedent. See 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (d)(1); Nevarez, 749 F.3d at 1128-29 (California…