Goodlow v. Broomfield
- Donna Ryu
- 4:24-cv-06902
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Goodlow v. Broomfield, Judge Peterson transferred the prisoner’s civil-rights case to the Northern District of California because the claim arose there.
Sherode Goodlow and the defendants named in the case are affected by the transfer from the Eastern District of California to the Northern District of California; the order does not resolve the underlying civil-rights claims.
What happened
In Goodlow v. Broomfield, Sherode Goodlow, a state prisoner proceeding without a lawyer, filed a civil-rights case under a federal law known as Section 1983. The opinion states that the claim arose in Marin County, which is in the Northern District of California.
The court concluded that the case was filed in the wrong federal district. It transferred the matter to the Northern District of California rather than deciding the underlying claims.
Magistrate Judge Jeremy D. Peterson ordered the transfer under the federal venue statute. The order does not decide whether Goodlow or the defendants are right on the civil-rights claims.
The detailed version
- Goodlow v. Broomfield · No. 4:24-cv-06902
- Donna Ryu
- Oct. 1, 2024
Background
Sherode Goodlow, identified as a state prisoner proceeding without a lawyer, filed a civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The caption names Broomfield and other defendants. The opinion states that the claim arose in Marin County, California.
Venue Analysis
Venue is the federal district where a case may properly be filed. The court quoted 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b), which permits a civil action to be filed in specified districts, including the district where a substantial part of the events giving rise to the claim occurred. Because the claim arose in Marin County, the court concluded that the case should have been filed in the Northern District of California.
Ruling
The court stated that, in the interest of justice, a federal court may transfer a complaint filed in the wrong district under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). Magistrate Judge Jeremy D. Peterson ordered that the matter be transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The order did not address the merits of Goodlow’s civil-rights claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.