Fernandez v. Fredrickson
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-02103
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Fernandez Regla v. Fredrickson, Judge Swain transferred the pro se civil-rights case to Florida because its events and defendants were there.
Fernandez Regla, the defendants, and any pending motions in the case are affected by the transfer to the Middle District of Florida; the New York court will not issue a summons or decide those motions.
What happened
Fernandez Regla v. Fredrickson is a case brought by a New York County resident without a lawyer under a federal civil-rights law. She sued Judge Elizabeth Gibson, Dustin Fredrickson, and attorney Raymond Traendly, alleging that they were violating her rights in connection with a child-custody dispute in Orlando, Florida.
The court said the custody proceedings and other events underlying the claims occurred in Orlando. It also said the defendants appeared to reside or work there, and that the Middle District of Florida was a proper and more convenient venue. The court did not decide whether Fernandez Regla’s claims were legally valid.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the case transferred to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. The New York court directed that no summons issue, left any pending motions for the Florida court to decide, and closed the case. It also denied permission to proceed without paying filing fees for any appeal, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Fernandez v. Fredrickson · No. 1:25-cv-02103
- Laura Swain
- July 29, 2025
Background
Fernandez Regla, a New York County resident proceeding without a lawyer, brought an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal civil-rights statute. She alleged that the defendants were violating her rights. The defendants were Judge Elizabeth Gibson, who sits in the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court in Orlando, Florida; Dustin Fredrickson, identified as the father of Fernandez Regla’s child and as residing in Orlando; and Raymond Traendly, a Florida attorney representing Fredrickson in a custody dispute before Judge Gibson.
Venue analysis
The court considered where the case could properly be heard. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1391, venue generally may be proper where defendants reside or where a substantial part of the events giving rise to the claims occurred. The court stated that the claims arose from custody proceedings in Orlando, Florida. It also stated that Orange County, where Orlando is located, falls within the Middle District of Florida. The court found that venue appeared proper there under either of those statutory provisions and that the complaint contained no allegations suggesting that venue was proper in the Southern District of New York.
The court also applied 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), which allows transfer to another district for the convenience of the parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice. It reasoned that the events occurred in Orlando, the defendants appeared to reside there, and relevant documents and witnesses could reasonably be expected to be there. The court therefore concluded that the Middle District of Florida appeared to be the more convenient forum.
Disposition
The court transferred the action to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. It directed the Clerk of Court to make the transfer, ordered that no summons issue from the Southern District of New York, and stated that the transferee court would decide any outstanding motions. The order closed the New York case. The court also certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying filing fees for purposes of an appeal. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order on July 29, 2025. The order did not decide the merits of Fernandez Regla’s civil-rights claims.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.