Scales v. Federal Bureau of Investigation

Background

William Scales, proceeding without a lawyer, brought federal-question and state-law claims against the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Applie Inc. He alleged that the FBI had illegally observed his mobile devices and living spaces for seven years, including at an Apple store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The opinion states that Scales resides in Brooklyn, that the FBI provided a Washington, D.C., address, and that the complaint identified a Brooklyn address for the Apple store.

Venue analysis

Federal law generally permits a civil action 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 personal jurisdiction. The court found that venue was not proper in the Southern District of New York because the defendants did not reside there and the alleged events occurred in Brooklyn. Under the federal transfer statute, a court may transfer a case filed in the wrong venue when doing so serves the interests of justice. Because Brooklyn is in the Eastern District of New York, the court determined that the Eastern District was the proper venue.

Ruling

Judge Laura Taylor Swain directed the Clerk to transfer the action to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The order closed the Southern District case, stated that no summons would issue from that court, and left the decision about whether Scales could proceed without prepaying fees to the transferee court. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for purposes of an appeal. The court did not decide whether Scales’s allegations were legally valid.