Calvino v. Holyoke City Massachusetts
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:19-cv-11666
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Calvino v. Holyoke City Massachusetts, Judge McMahon transferred the pro se case to Massachusetts because venue was improper in New York.
Ernest Calvino Jr. and Holyoke City Massachusetts; the case was transferred from the Southern District of New York to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
What happened
Ernest Calvino Jr. filed a self-represented federal case against Holyoke City Massachusetts in the Southern District of New York. He invoked federal-question jurisdiction and alleged that the events behind his claims occurred in Massachusetts.
The court ruled that venue—the proper federal court location for a case—was not in New York because the defendant was located in Massachusetts and the alleged events occurred there. It transferred the case to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts under the federal venue statute.
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the transfer, closed the New York case, and left the decision about whether Calvino could proceed without paying filing fees to the Massachusetts court. She also denied fee-free status for any appeal from the transfer order.
The detailed version
- Calvino v. Holyoke City Massachusetts · No. 1:19-cv-11666
- Colleen McMahon
- Jan. 16, 2020
Background
Ernest Calvino Jr. brought a self-represented action invoking federal-question jurisdiction. He sued what the court described as apparently the City of Holyoke, Massachusetts. The opinion does not describe the underlying claims, but it states that Calvino alleged the events giving rise to them occurred in Massachusetts.
Venue analysis
Federal law generally permits a civil case to be filed where a defendant resides, where a substantial part of the relevant events occurred, or, if neither applies, where the defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction. The court concluded that the defendant did not reside in the Southern District of New York and that none of the relevant events occurred there. It therefore found that venue was improper in that district.
Ruling
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), the court transferred the action to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The court directed the Clerk to mail the order to Calvino, record service, and transfer the case. It stated that the transferee court would decide whether Calvino could continue without paying filing fees. No summons would issue from the Southern District of New York, and that court closed the case.
Judge Colleen McMahon also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. The order did not decide the merits of Calvino’s underlying claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.