Ahmad v. Girardi
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-03797
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Ahmad v. Girardi, Judge Swain transferred the case to the Eastern District of New York because venue was improper in the Southern District.
Rasheed Ahmad and the defendants are affected by the transfer from the Southern District of New York to the Eastern District of New York; the transferee court will decide whether Ahmad may proceed without prepaying fees.
What happened
Ahmad v. Girardi was filed by Rasheed Ahmad, who represented himself. He asserted several federal and state-law claims against Judge Joseph B. Girardi and other defendants, based on events that allegedly occurred in Nassau County, New York.
The court determined that venue was not proper in the Southern District of New York because no defendant appeared to reside there. Because Nassau County is in the Eastern District of New York, the court found that venue was proper there and transferred the case.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the Clerk to transfer the action under the federal venue statute. The Southern District case was closed, summonses were not issued there, and the transferee court would decide whether Ahmad could proceed without paying filing fees. The court also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Ahmad v. Girardi · No. 1:23-cv-03797
- Laura Swain
- May 11, 2023
Background
Rasheed Ahmad filed the action without a lawyer. His amended complaint asserted, or possibly asserted, claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983, 1985, and 1986, along with various other federal statutes and state law. He sought damages and injunctive relief against Judge Joseph B. Girardi, several individuals associated with the Nassau County Police Department and Nassau County prosecutors’ office, other court-related defendants, a law firm, and unspecified court officers.
The court understood Ahmad’s claims to arise from his arrest in Nassau County and his later prosecution in the District Court of Nassau County. Ahmad did not identify the defendants’ residences, but he alleged that the events occurred in Nassau County.
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 under the residence-based provision because, even if all defendants resided in New York State, none appeared to reside in that federal district.
Nassau County is within the Eastern District of New York. The court therefore found that venue was proper in the Eastern District under the provision allowing a case to be filed where a substantial part of the events occurred.
Ruling
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), a court may dismiss a case filed in the wrong venue or, when justice supports that result, transfer it to a district where it could have been brought. Judge Laura Taylor Swain concluded that transferring the action to the Eastern District of New York was in the interest of justice and directed the Clerk to make that transfer.
The order closed the action in the Southern District of New York. Summonses were not to issue from that court. The Eastern District of New York would decide whether Ahmad could proceed without prepaying fees. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Ahmad permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.