Cortez v. Mills
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-06952
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Cortez v. Mills, Judge Swain transferred the pro se plaintiff’s case to Texas because New York was the wrong venue.
Leland Cortez’s lawsuit was transferred from the Southern District of New York to the Northern District of Texas. Matthew Mills and the Granbury Police Department remain the named defendants; the opinion did not decide the underlying claims.
What happened
In Cortez v. Mills, Leland Cortez sued Matthew Mills and the Granbury Police Department over events that he said included his arrest and detention in Hood County, Texas. He represented himself and sought damages and an apology.
The court found that the events occurred in Hood County and that the defendants appeared to reside there, so the Southern District of New York was not the proper place for the case. The court determined that the Northern District of Texas was the proper venue.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain transferred the case to the Northern District of Texas in the interest of justice. The court closed the case in New York, left any decision about proceeding without paying fees to the receiving court, and denied fee-free status for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Cortez v. Mills · No. 1:22-cv-06952
- Laura Swain
- Aug. 19, 2022
Background
Leland Cortez brought this lawsuit without a lawyer under federal-question jurisdiction. He sued Matthew Mills, whom the opinion identifies as the County Attorney for Hood County, Texas, and the Granbury Police Department. Cortez alleged that events giving rise to his claims, including his arrest and detention, occurred on March 14, 2021, in Granbury, Hood County, Texas. He sought damages and a “full accountability apology.”
Venue analysis
The court considered the federal venue statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1391. That statute generally permits a civil case to proceed where a defendant resides, where a substantial part of the relevant events occurred, or, in limited circumstances, where a defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction. Cortez did not specifically allege either defendant’s residence, but the court said it appeared both defendants resided in Hood County, Texas. Because the relevant events occurred there and the defendants appeared to reside there, the court concluded that venue was not proper in the Southern District of New York.
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1406, a court may dismiss a case filed in the wrong venue or transfer it to a district where it could have been brought if transfer serves the interests of justice. The court determined that Hood County is in the Northern District of Texas and that venue was proper there because the claims arose there.
Disposition
The court directed the Clerk to transfer the action to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. It stated that the receiving court would decide whether Cortez could proceed without prepaying fees, and it directed that no summons issue from the Southern District of New York. The order closed the action in that court. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.