Covello

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 MELVIN STOVALL, No. 2:20-cv-1717 KJN P Petitioner, v. ORDER PATRICK COVELLO, Acting Warden,1 Respondent. 16 Petitioner is a state prisoner, proceeding without counsel. On August 27, 2020, petitioner filed a document styled, “Petition for Preliminary Injunctive Relief, Temporary Restraining Order, Appointment of Counsel, Accelerated Release.” (ECF No. 1.) Petitioner states that he is a 67 year-old African American who is most vulnerable to the Coronavirus and the inhalation of toxic smoke from the California wildfires. He claims that he has served 26 years of a 25 year-to- life sentence under California’s Three Strikes Law, and his current conviction was for a nonviolent, nonserious drug offense. Petitioner seeks accelerated release from prison on medical grounds under whatever form of supervision the court requires. The undersigned construes petitioner’s filing as a motion for compassionate release.

The…