Lupercio v. Attorney

Background

Ramon Lupercio Navarro, a state prisoner proceeding without counsel, filed a civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The opinion says his complaint appeared to attack the legitimacy of his conviction and that he might need to pursue those claims through a petition challenging his imprisonment instead.

Venue

Navarro was imprisoned at San Quentin State Prison, which the opinion says is located in Marin County. Marin County is in the Northern District of California. The court concluded that the action should have been filed there rather than in the Eastern District of California.

Ruling

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 the matter be transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The order was signed by United States Magistrate Judge Jeremy D. Peterson.

Terminology

A transfer changes which federal district court handles the case; the opinion does not decide whether Navarro's claims are legally valid.

Record discrepancy

The supplied metadata identifies the court as the Northern District of California and the judge as Jon Tigar, but the opinion text identifies the issuing court as the Eastern District of California and the signing judge as Jeremy D. Peterson. This summary follows the opinion text.