SARAH S. VANCE, U.S. District Judge.
Before the Court are plaintiff's objections to the Magistrate's Report and Recommendation. Having reviewed de novo the complaint, the record, the applicable law, the Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge, and the plaintiff's objections to the Report and Recommendation, the Court agrees that plaintiff's habeas claims should be dismissed without prejudice for failure to exhaust available state court remedies.
I. BACKGROUND
Lacal Wilson is currently serving a life sentence at the Washington Correctional Institute in Angie, Louisiana. Wilson seeks relief from his 1991 conviction of simple burglary in state court. In his Report and Recommendation, the Magistrate Judge dismissed plaintiff's claims for failure to exhaust state court remedies.
II. DISCUSSION
Because plaintiff's claim effectively seeks federal habeas relief as to the validity of his state conviction, he must first exhaust his claims in state court. See Whitehead v. Johnson, 157 F.3d 384, 387 (5th Cir. 1988) ( citing Rose v. Lundy, 455 U.S. 509, 519-20 (1982)). In order to fulfill the exhaustion requirement, plaintiff must fairly present the substance of his federal habeas claim to the highest state court in a procedurally proper manner. See Mercadel v. Cain, 179 F.3d 271, 275 (5th Cir. 1999); Whitehead, 157 F.3d at 387. The Magistrate Judge dismissed plaintiff's petition for habeas corpus relief without prejudice on the grounds that he failed to exhaust his state court remedies, noting that plaintiff has never filed a petition or writ with the Louisiana Supreme Court. Before this Court can rule on the merits of plaintiff's federal claim, he must first pursue his claim up the ladder of the state court system. The Court therefore agrees with the Magistrate Judge that plaintiff's petition for habeas corpus relief must be dismissed without prejudice for failure to exhaust state court remedies.
III. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the Court hereby approves the Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge and adopts it as its opinion in this matter. Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that plaintiff's habeas corpus claims be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE for failure to exhaust available state court remedies.