Williams v. Lorman

Background

Sean L. Williams brought this self-represented action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that Joseph Lorman, Wendy Dickie, Victoria Thorpe, and the Office of Child Support violated his constitutional rights. The claims concerned Family Court proceedings in 2019 and 2020 in Bennington, Vermont, and later state-agency action arising in Westbury, Vermont.

Venue Analysis

Venue is the federal district where a case may properly be litigated. The court explained that federal law generally permits a civil action to be filed where the defendants reside, where a substantial part of the events occurred, or, in limited circumstances, where a defendant is subject to the court’s authority.

Williams did not allege the defendants’ residences. But the complaint showed that the relevant events occurred in Bennington and Westbury, Vermont, and that the defendants were employed in Vermont. The court therefore concluded that venue was not proper in the Southern District of New York and that venue was proper in the District of Vermont.

Ruling

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1406, when a case is filed in the wrong venue, a court may dismiss it or transfer it to a district where it could have been brought if transfer serves the interests of justice. Judge Gregory H. Woods transferred the action to the United States District Court for the District of Vermont. The Clerk was directed to make the transfer without delay; summonses were not to issue from the New York court; and the order stated that the New York case was closed.

The court did not decide whether Williams’s constitutional claims were valid. It also certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.