Rozier Bey v. Charles
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-00341
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Rozier Bey v. Charles, Judge Swain transferred the case to Georgia because venue was improper in New York.
Felipe Demar Rozier Bey and the defendants in the action; the case was moved from the Southern District of New York to the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.
What happened
In Rozier Bey v. Charles, Felipe Demar Rozier Bey, representing himself, sued the Governor of Georgia, the President of the United States, the Church of England, and others. He said his claims arose in Georgia in 1982 and sought, among other things, the return of property in College Park, Georgia.
The court concluded that New York was not a proper location for the case because the defendants did not all reside there and the alleged events did not occur there. It found that the Northern District of Georgia was a proper location because the plaintiff resides there and his claims arose there.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the Clerk to transfer the case to the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, and closed the case in the Southern District of New York. The court also said the transferee court would decide whether the plaintiff could proceed without paying filing fees, and denied fee-free status for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Rozier Bey v. Charles · No. 1:25-cv-00341
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 22, 2025
Background
Felipe Demar Rozier Bey brought the action without a lawyer. He said his claims arose in 1982 in Georgia. He sued the Governor of Georgia, the President of the United States, the Church of England, and others. The opinion states that his allegations were difficult to decipher. Among other requests, he sought the return of land located at 6395 Tahoe Drive in College Park, Georgia.
Venue analysis
Venue is the legally proper federal court location for a civil action. Applying the general venue statute, the court explained that a case may generally be brought where the defendants reside, where a substantial part of the events occurred, or, if neither applies, where a defendant is subject to the court’s authority over that defendant.
The court determined that venue was not proper in the Southern District of New York based on the defendants’ residences because all defendants did not reside in New York. Venue also did not appear proper there based on the events because the plaintiff alleged that his claims arose in Georgia. The court noted that College Park is in Fulton County, which is in the Northern District of Georgia, and concluded that venue did lie in that district because the plaintiff resides there and his claims arose there.
Disposition
Under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1404 and 1406, the court transferred the action, in the interest of justice, to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division. The Clerk was directed to make the transfer. The court stated that the transferee court would decide whether the plaintiff could proceed without prepaying filing fees. No summons was to issue from the Southern District of New York, and the order closed the case in that district.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied the plaintiff permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The opinion does not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.