Modeste v. Michael
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:21-cv-01062
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Modeste v. Michael, Judge McMahon transferred the constitutional-rights case to Florida because New York was not the proper venue.
The transfer affects Dexter Etienne Modeste and the defendants by moving the case from the Southern District of New York to the Southern District of Florida. The Florida court, not the New York court, will decide whether the case may proceed and whether Modeste may proceed without prepaying fees.
What happened
In Modeste v. Michael, Dexter Etienne Modeste, who was detained in Florida and represented himself, sued a police officer, detective, and corrections officer under a federal civil-rights law. He alleged that events in Miami Beach violated his constitutional rights.
The Southern District of New York found that the defendants and events were connected to Florida, not New York. Because the case belonged in the Southern District of Florida, the court transferred it there rather than deciding the claims.
Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the transfer and closed the New York case. The Florida court will decide whether Modeste may continue without paying filing fees; the New York court also stated that an appeal could not proceed without those fees.
The detailed version
- Modeste v. Michael · No. 1:21-cv-01062
- Colleen McMahon
- Feb. 8, 2021
Background
Dexter Etienne Modeste filed this case without a lawyer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal law allowing claims against state actors for violating constitutional rights. He alleged that a police officer, a detective, and a corrections officer violated his constitutional rights. The opinion states that the events involved the “JGK Center, Miami Beach Police Department, on Lincoln Road.” At the time, Modeste was detained at the Metro West Detention Center in Doral, Florida.
Venue analysis
Venue is the proper federal court location for a case. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b), a civil action generally may be filed where a defendant resides, where a substantial part of the events occurred, or, in some circumstances, where a defendant is subject to the court’s authority. The court found that Modeste had not alleged that all defendants lived in New York or that a substantial part of the events occurred there. The complaint instead suggested that the defendants lived in or near Miami Beach, Florida, and the court concluded that the claims arose in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
Ruling and disposition
The court concluded that venue was proper in the Southern District of Florida and transferred the action there under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), which permits transfer when venue is improper. Judge Colleen McMahon directed the Clerk of Court to transfer the action, mail the order to Modeste, and record service on the docket. The court stated that the transferee court would decide whether Modeste could proceed without prepaying filing fees. A summons was not issued from the Southern District of New York, and the order closed that court’s case. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.