Dobane v. State of New Jersey

Background

Bras Dobane, also identified in the caption as Brian L. Taylor, filed this action without a lawyer against the State of New Jersey; New Jersey Superior Court Judges Robert H. Gardner and Sheila A. Venable; “the New Jersey Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action”; and New Jersey court administrators John Napolitano, Tonya N. Hopson, and Glenn A. Grant. The opinion says the claims arose from Plaintiff’s interactions with the state court system in Essex County, New Jersey, including an allegation that he was discriminated against concerning court proceedings there.

Venue analysis

The court applied 28 U.S.C. § 1391, the federal venue statute. It found that venue was not proper in the Southern District of New York under the provision concerning where defendants reside because Plaintiff did not allege that all defendants reside in New York. Venue was also not proper under the provision concerning where a substantial part of the events occurred because Plaintiff alleged no facts suggesting that any events giving rise to his claims occurred in the Southern District of New York.

Ruling

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1406, a court may transfer a case filed in the wrong venue when transfer serves the interest of justice. Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the Clerk to transfer this action to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, where Essex County is located. The order closed the case in the Southern District of New York; it did not decide the underlying claims.

The transferee court will decide whether Plaintiff may proceed without prepaying filing fees and whether to grant his request for a volunteer lawyer. The Southern District of New York terminated that lawyer-request motion, and no summons was to issue from that court. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal from the order.