Valentine Shabazz v. Bruce

Background

Danny Amen Anderson Valentine Shabazz filed the action without a lawyer and said he was asserting copyright-infringement claims. He sued Chris Bruce, Cerron Cade, Nick Sabean, Jeff Flynn, and John Carney, identified in the opinion as the Governor of Delaware. Shabazz also filed additional submissions and what appeared to be two motions, which the court treated as supplements to his initial pleading. The court had previously granted his request to proceed without paying the filing fee.

Venue analysis

The court applied the copyright venue statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1400(a), which allows a copyright-infringement action to be filed in a district where a defendant or the defendant’s agent resides or may be found. The opinion states that all defendants appeared to reside or be found in Delaware. It also states that Shabazz alleged no facts showing that any defendant or agent resided or could be found in New York, including the Southern District of New York.

Because the New York court appeared to be an improper venue and the District of Delaware was clearly a proper venue, the court applied 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). That statute allows a court to dismiss a case filed in the wrong venue or, when justice requires, transfer it to a district where it could have been filed.

Order

The court transferred the action to the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. The transfer order did not decide whether copyright infringement occurred or whether Shabazz was entitled to relief on his claims. The court left any decision on the pending motions to the Delaware court, directed that summonses not issue from the New York court, and stated that the order closed the action in the Southern District of New York.

The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Shabazz’s fee-free status for purposes of an appeal. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.