Perez v. Bombard
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-00799
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Perez v. Bombard, Judge Swain transferred Perez’s excessive-force case to the Northern District of New York because venue was improper in the Southern District.
Ignacio Perez’s case was moved from the Southern District of New York to the Northern District of New York. The named defendants and the two unidentified defendants remain parties to the transferred action, but the opinion does not decide the merits of Perez’s allegations.
What happened
In Perez v. Bombard, Ignacio Perez, who was incarcerated, brought a self-represented civil-rights case alleging that correctional officials used excessive force against him at Cape Vincent Correctional Facility.
The court found that the alleged events occurred in Jefferson County, New York, in the Northern District of New York. Because the defendants were employed there or listed an employment address there, the court concluded that the Southern District of New York was not the proper venue.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain transferred the action to the Northern District of New York in the interest of justice. The order closed the case in the Southern District, left any decision about proceeding without prepaying fees to the receiving court, and denied fee-free status for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Perez v. Bombard · No. 1:23-cv-00799
- Laura Swain
- Feb. 1, 2023
Background
Ignacio Perez, who was incarcerated at Fishkill Correctional Facility, filed this self-represented action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He alleged that the defendants violated his federal constitutional rights by using excessive force against him while he was incarcerated at Cape Vincent Correctional Facility.
The defendants named in the complaint were Cape Vincent Correctional Officer S. Bombard; the Cape Vincent superintendent; Acting New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Commissioner Anthony Annucci; and two unidentified Cape Vincent correctional officers.
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. Perez did not allege the defendants’ residences, but he alleged that the events giving rise to his claims occurred at Cape Vincent.
Cape Vincent is in Jefferson County, which is in the Northern District of New York. The court noted that all defendants except Commissioner Annucci were employed at Cape Vincent. A footnote also states that Perez listed Annucci’s employment address as Albany, New York, which is likewise in the Northern District of New York. Based on the complaint, the court concluded that venue was not proper in the Southern District of New York and that venue was proper in the Northern District under the provision covering the district where the events occurred.
Ruling
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1406, when a case is filed in the wrong venue, the court may dismiss it or, if justice supports that result, transfer it to a district where it could have been brought. The court transferred the action to the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York in the interest of justice.
The Clerk was directed to transfer the action. A summons was not to issue from the Southern District, and the order states that the case was closed there. The transferee court was left to decide whether Perez could proceed without prepaying filing fees. 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 whether the excessive-force allegations were legally or factually valid.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.