Golding v. Trump

Background

Karim Golding, who was incarcerated at the Etowah County Detention Center in Gadsden, Alabama, filed this lawsuit without a lawyer. He alleged that he contracted COVID-19 because officials at the detention center failed to take necessary precautions to prevent the virus from spreading. He named the Etowah County Sheriff, President Donald Trump, and several federal agencies and officials as defendants. The opinion states that Golding invoked federal-question and diversity jurisdiction and cited several federal statutes, including the Torture Victim Protection Act, Alien Tort Claims Act, Administrative Procedure Act, Declaratory Judgment Act, and other civil-rights statutes.

Venue Analysis

The court explained that federal law generally permits a civil action to be filed where the defendants reside, where a substantial part of the events occurred, or, if neither applies, where a defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction. The court concluded that venue was not proper in the Southern District of New York because Golding did not allege that all defendants resided in New York or that a substantial part of the events occurred there. The alleged violations occurred at the detention center in Etowah County, which is in the Northern District of Alabama.

Ruling and Disposition

Chief Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the case transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). The court directed the Clerk to transfer the action, stated that the transferee court would decide whether Golding could proceed without prepaying fees, and ordered that no summons issue from the New York court. The order closed the case in the Southern District of New York. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. The court did not decide the merits of Golding’s underlying confinement or COVID-19 claims.