Goodwin v. Gomez
- Beth Freeman
- 5:24-cv-06645
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Goodwin v. Gomez, Magistrate Judge Brennan transferred the prisoner’s civil-rights case to the Northern District of California because the claim arose there.
Patrick Glenn Goodwin, A. Gomez, and the other defendants; the case will proceed in the Northern District of California rather than the Eastern District of California.
What happened
Patrick Glenn Goodwin, representing himself, filed a civil-rights lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and asked to proceed without paying the filing fee. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims.
The court explained that federal law generally permits a case to be filed where a defendant resides or where a substantial part of the events occurred. The court found that Goodwin’s claim arose in Monterey County, which is in the Northern District of California.
Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan ordered the case transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The opinion does not rule on Goodwin’s request to proceed without paying the filing fee or on the merits of his claims.
The detailed version
- Goodwin v. Gomez · No. 5:24-cv-06645
- Beth Freeman
- Sept. 19, 2024
Background
Patrick Glenn Goodwin, a state prisoner proceeding without a lawyer, filed a civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against A. Gomez and others. He also filed an application to proceed without paying the filing fee under 28 U.S.C. § 1915. The opinion does not identify the specific constitutional or statutory claims.
Venue analysis
The court applied the federal venue statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b). That statute permits a civil action to be filed in certain districts, including a district where a substantial part of the events giving rise to the claim occurred. The court determined that Goodwin’s claim arose in Monterey County, which is located in the Northern District of California.
Disposition
The court concluded that the action should have been filed in the Northern District of California. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), a federal court may transfer a case filed in the wrong district when doing so serves the interests of justice. The court therefore ordered that the matter be transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The order did not decide the merits of Goodwin’s claims and did not state a ruling on his application to proceed without paying the filing fee.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.