Dunbar v. Dahlberg
- Peterson
- 3:23-cv-00905
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Dunbar v. Dahlberg, Judge Peterson transferred Eddie Dunbar’s civil-rights case to the Northern District of California because venue was improper in the Eastern District.
Eddie Dunbar’s lawsuit was moved from the Eastern District of California to the Northern District of California; the order addressed venue and did not decide the merits of his civil-rights claims.
What happened
In Dunbar v. Dahlberg, Eddie Dunbar, a state prisoner without a lawyer, filed a civil-rights lawsuit under a federal law allowing claims against state officials. The case was filed in the Eastern District of California.
The court said that no defendant lived in the Eastern District and that Dunbar’s claims arose in Del Norte County, which is in the Northern District of California. The court therefore determined that the case had been filed in the wrong federal district.
The court transferred the case to the Northern District of California in the interest of justice. The order was signed by Judge D. Peterson.
The detailed version
- Dunbar v. Dahlberg · No. 3:23-cv-00905
- Peterson
- Feb. 27, 2023
Background
Eddie Dunbar, a state prisoner proceeding without counsel, filed a civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The opinion states that the case was before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California.
Venue analysis
The court applied 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b), the federal venue statute. That statute identifies districts where a civil action may be filed, including a district where a defendant resides or where a substantial part of the events giving rise to the claim occurred.
The court found that no defendant resided in the Eastern District of California. It also found that Dunbar’s claims arose in Del Norte County, which is in the Northern District of California under 28 U.S.C. § 84(a). The court concluded that the action should have been filed in the Northern District.
Disposition
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), a federal court may transfer a case filed in the wrong district when doing so serves the interest of justice. The court ordered that the matter be transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Judge D. Peterson signed the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.