Brown v. Donahue

Background

Sammy L. Brown, who is incarcerated at Elmira Correctional Facility, brought this action without a lawyer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal law allowing claims for violations of constitutional rights by state actors. He alleged that correctional staff at Elmira denied him access to review his file, which resulted in denial of access to the courts. The defendants were J. Donahue, Tammy Hickey, and Ms. O’Dell, identified as correctional staff employed at Elmira.

Venue Analysis

The court explained that federal law generally allows a civil case to be filed where a defendant resides, where a substantial part of the events occurred, or, in limited circumstances, where a defendant is subject to the court’s authority. Brown did not allege where the defendants resided. He alleged only that the events supporting his claims occurred at Elmira.

Because the defendants were employed at Elmira and the alleged events occurred in Chemung County, the court determined from the complaint that venue was not proper in the Southern District of New York. Chemung County is in the Western District of New York, so that district was a proper venue.

Ruling

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1406, a court may transfer a case filed in the wrong venue when doing so serves the interests of justice. The court transferred the action to the United States District Court for the Western District of New York. The Clerk was directed to carry out the transfer, and the Southern District case was closed.

The court stated that the transferee court would decide whether Brown could continue without prepaying filing fees. It also directed that no summons issue from the Southern District of New York and certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith; fee-free status was therefore denied for purposes of an appeal.