Damon v. State of New York
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-10707
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Damon v. State of New York, Judge Swain transferred the action to the Northern District of New York because events, witnesses, and documents were there.
David O. Damon’s case was moved from the Southern District of New York to the Northern District of New York; the underlying claims against the named defendants were not decided in this order.
What happened
In Damon v. State of New York, David O. Damon, who was representing himself and held at the Franklin County Jail, sued New York State and several individuals and government offices under federal civil-rights statutes. He said the events supporting his claims occurred in Franklin and Saint Lawrence Counties.
The court ruled that the Northern District of New York was a proper and more convenient place for the case. It explained that the underlying events occurred there and that relevant witnesses and documents would likely be there.
The court transferred the action to the Northern District of New York and closed it in the Southern District of New York. It did not decide the underlying claims; Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied fee-free status for any appeal from the transfer order.
The detailed version
- Damon v. State of New York · No. 1:22-cv-10707
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 12, 2023
Background
David O. Damon, who was representing himself and was being held at the Franklin County Jail, brought claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1985. He named the State of New York, government offices, public defenders, prosecutors, law-enforcement personnel, a law guardian, and other defendants. The opinion states that Damon alleged the events supporting his claims occurred in Franklin and/or Saint Lawrence Counties, which are in the Northern District of New York.
Venue and Transfer
The court explained that federal law permits a civil action to be filed where defendants reside, where a substantial part of the events occurred, or, in some circumstances, where a defendant is subject to the court’s authority. The court concluded that the Northern District of New York was a proper venue because the alleged events occurred there. It then applied the federal transfer statute, which allows a court to move a case to another proper federal court for the convenience of the parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice.
The court found that transfer was appropriate because the underlying events occurred in Franklin and/or Saint Lawrence Counties and it was reasonable to expect that the relevant documents and witnesses would also be there. It therefore transferred the action to the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York.
Disposition
The court directed the Clerk to transfer the action and stated that the transferee court would decide whether Damon could continue without prepaying filing fees. Summonses would not issue from the Southern District of New York, and 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 an appeal. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.