Pelton v. Amador

Background

Sean Michael Pelton, a county jail inmate proceeding without a lawyer, filed a civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He also applied to proceed without paying the filing fee and filed motions to change venue and add an addendum to the complaint.

Venue analysis

The court applied the federal venue statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b). That statute identifies districts where a civil action may be filed, including a district where a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred. The court stated that the defendant or defendants were located in San Francisco County and that the claim arose there. Because San Francisco County is in the Northern District of California, the court concluded that the case had been filed in the wrong district.

Disposition

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), a federal court may transfer a case filed in the wrong district to the correct district when doing so serves the interests of justice. Judge Allison Claire ordered that the matter be transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The court expressly did not address the application to proceed without paying the filing fee, the motion to change venue, or the motion to file an addendum. The order addressed venue only and did not decide the underlying civil-rights claims.