Buckner v. New York Administration for Childrens Services
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-02539
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Buckner v. New York Administration for Childrens Services, Judge Swain transferred Pennsylvania claims for improper venue while New York claims remained pending.
Buckner’s claims against Pennsylvania Children in Youth Services and the Hanover Area School District were transferred to the Middle District of Pennsylvania; her claims against the New York defendants remained pending in the Southern District of New York.
What happened
In Buckner v. New York Administration for Childrens Services, Shatasia Chanel Buckner, representing herself, brought claims involving the removal and care of her children under federal and state laws. The claims named Pennsylvania Children in Youth Services, the Hanover Area School District, New York Administration for Children’s Services, and Suzanne Miles-Gustave.
The court ruled that the claims against Pennsylvania Children in Youth Services and the Hanover Area School District did not belong in the Southern District of New York because the relevant events occurred in Pennsylvania. It separated those claims and transferred them to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the Clerk to transfer those claims and remove the two Pennsylvania defendants from the docket. The claims against New York Administration for Children’s Services and Miles-Gustave remained pending in this district, and the court denied fee-free appeal status for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Buckner v. New York Administration for Childrens Services · No. 1:24-cv-02539
- Laura Swain
- June 18, 2024
Background
Shatasia Chanel Buckner filed this self-represented action under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), New York Education Law, and the Fourteenth Amendment. The defendants were Pennsylvania Children in Youth Services, the Hanover Area School District, the New York Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), and Suzanne Miles-Gustave, identified in the opinion as a former Commissioner of the New York Office of Children and Family Services.
The opinion says Buckner alleged that her children were removed from New York and taken to Pennsylvania under false pretenses. She also alleged that the Pennsylvania school district and child-services agency failed to prevent or remedy the removal, address a child’s peanut allergy, and provide needed medical and emotional care. She sought, among other things, punitive damages and the immediate return of her children.
Venue and Transfer
Venue is the legally proper federal court location for a case. The court held that venue was not proper in the Southern District of New York for the claims against Pennsylvania Children in Youth Services and the Hanover Area School District. The court explained that those claims did not meet the general venue rules because not all defendants resided in New York and because the claims concerning the children’s medical treatment or neglect arose outside New York.
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), a court may dismiss a case filed in the wrong venue or, when justice requires, transfer it to a district where it could have been filed. The court found that the claims against the two Pennsylvania defendants arose in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, which is in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. It therefore severed those claims and transferred them to that district.
Disposition
The court directed the Clerk to transfer the claims against Pennsylvania Children in Youth Services and the Hanover Area School District to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and to terminate those defendants on the docket. The claims against ACS and Miles-Gustave remained pending in the Southern District of New York, and no summons was to issue.
The court also certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free appeal status. This transfer order did not decide the underlying merits of Buckner’s claims.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.