Arrestouilh v. Adams County Jail

Background

Ray Arrestouilh filed this pro se action, meaning he was proceeding without a lawyer, against Adams County Jail and other defendants. The opinion states that he was incarcerated at the Arapahoe County Detention Facility in Centennial, Colorado. He alleged that the defendants denied him medical treatment there and appeared to assert additional claims arising from criminal proceedings in Colorado. The court construed the complaint as raising constitutional claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal law that allows certain claims against state actors for constitutional violations.

Venue analysis

The court applied 28 U.S.C. § 1391, the federal venue statute. It explained that a civil action may generally be brought where a defendant resides, 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 found that Arrestouilh did not allege that any defendant resided in the Southern District of New York or that a substantial part of the relevant events occurred there. Because the claims arose in Arapahoe County, the court concluded that venue was proper in the District of Colorado under § 1391(b)(2).

Ruling

Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the action transferred to the United States District Court for the District of Colorado under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), which permits transfer when venue is improper. The order states that the transferee court will decide whether Arrestouilh may proceed without prepaying filing fees because he had not submitted an application to proceed without prepayment or paid the fees. The court directed the Clerk to transfer the action, ordered that no summons issue from the Southern District of New York, and stated that the order closed the case there. 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 order did not decide the merits of the medical-treatment or criminal-proceeding claims.