Page v. Navarrete
- Barnes
- 5:24-cv-01424
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
Page v. Navarrete was transferred to the Northern District of California for improper venue, in an order by Judge Barnes.
Richard Lawrence Page’s case was transferred from the Eastern District of California to the Northern District of California; the order did not decide the civil-rights claim against Jorge Navarrete.
What happened
In Page v. Navarrete, Richard Lawrence Page, a state prisoner representing himself, filed a civil-rights lawsuit under federal law against Jorge Navarrete. He also applied to proceed without paying the filing fee.
The court said the claim arose in San Francisco, 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.
Judge Deborah Barnes ordered the case transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The order transferred the matter; it did not decide the underlying civil-rights claim.
The detailed version
- Page v. Navarrete · No. 5:24-cv-01424
- Barnes
- Mar. 5, 2024
Background
Richard Lawrence Page, a state prisoner proceeding without a lawyer, 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 analysis
The court applied the federal venue statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b). That statute identifies the federal districts where a civil action may be filed, including a district where a substantial part of the events giving rise to the claim occurred. The court stated that Page’s claim arose in the City and County of San Francisco, 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. Citing 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), the court explained that a federal court may transfer a complaint filed in the wrong district when doing so serves the interests of justice. Judge Deborah Barnes ordered that the matter be transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The order did not resolve the merits of Page’s civil-rights claim.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.