Latour v. A1 Towing
- Susan Van Keulen
- 3:25-cv-06755
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Sir Casey Forles Dailey Latour v. A1 Towing, Judge Kim transferred the civil-rights case to the Northern District of California because it was filed in the wrong district.
The plaintiff and the defendants are affected because the case will proceed in the Northern District of California rather than the Eastern District of California.
What happened
Sir Casey Forles Dailey Latour, a state prisoner representing himself, filed a civil-rights lawsuit under a federal civil-rights law against A1 Towing and others. He also applied to proceed without paying the filing fee.
The court said the claim arose in San Mateo County, which is in the Northern District of California. Because the case was filed in the wrong federal district, the court determined that it should have been filed there.
In Sir Casey Forles Dailey Latour v. A1 Towing, Magistrate Judge Chi Soo Kim ordered the case transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The order did not decide the underlying civil-rights claims.
The detailed version
- Latour v. A1 Towing · No. 3:25-cv-06755
- Susan Van Keulen
- Aug. 6, 2025
Background
The plaintiff, a state prisoner representing himself, filed a civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He also filed an application to proceed without paying the filing fee under 28 U.S.C. § 1915.
Venue
The federal venue statute permits a civil action to be filed in certain districts, including the district where a substantial part of the events giving rise to the claim occurred. The court determined that the claim arose in San Mateo County, which is in the Northern District of California.
Ruling
The court concluded that the action should have been filed in the Northern District of California. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), a federal court may transfer a case filed in the wrong district when doing so serves the interests of justice. The court ordered that this matter be transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The order did not address the merits of the civil-rights claims or rule on the filing-fee application.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.