Hill v. Lee Ana
- Yvonne Rogers
- 4:24-cv-07162
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Hill v. Lee Ana, Magistrate Judge Peterson transferred the civil-rights case to the Northern District of California because the claim arose there.
Cymeyon Hill and the defendants are affected because the case was transferred from the Eastern District of California to the Northern District of California; the order did not resolve the underlying claims.
What happened
In Cymeyon Hill v. Lee Ana, Cymeyon Hill, a civil detainee representing himself, filed a civil-rights lawsuit under a federal law allowing claims against state officials. The opinion states that the claim arose in Napa County, which is in the Northern District of California.
The court explained that federal law permits a case filed in the wrong district to be transferred to the proper district when doing so serves justice. It concluded that the case should have been filed in the Northern District of California.
Magistrate Judge Jeremy D. Peterson ordered the matter transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The order transferred the case rather than deciding the underlying civil-rights claims.
The detailed version
- Hill v. Lee Ana · No. 4:24-cv-07162
- Yvonne Rogers
- Oct. 7, 2024
Background
Cymeyon Hill, described as a civil detainee proceeding without a lawyer, filed a civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The opinion states that the claim arose in Napa County, California.
Venue analysis
The court recited the federal venue statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b). That statute identifies districts where a civil action may be brought, including a district where a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred. Because the claim arose in Napa County, the court concluded that the proper venue was the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Disposition
The court relied on 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), which permits a federal court to transfer a case filed in the wrong district to the correct district in the interest of justice. 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 decide the merits of Hill's civil-rights claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.