Anderson v. The Pentagon
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-08144
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Anderson v. The Pentagon, Judge Swain transferred the case to Minnesota because New York was the wrong venue.
Mark Anthony Anderson and The Pentagon; the case was transferred from the Southern District of New York to the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.
What happened
In Anderson v. The Pentagon, Mark Anthony Anderson, representing himself, sued “the Pentagon.” He alleged that his claims arose from events in Minnesota, including matters involving the Blue Earth County Jail and court system.
The Southern District of New York held that venue did not belong there because Anderson lived in Queens County and the alleged events occurred in Minnesota. The court concluded that the case could have been brought in the District of Minnesota.
Judge Swain transferred the case to the District of Minnesota in the interest of justice. The New York court closed the case there, did not issue a summons, and left any decision about proceeding without paying filing fees to the transferee court.
The detailed version
- Anderson v. The Pentagon · No. 1:23-cv-08144
- Laura Swain
- Oct. 4, 2023
Background
Mark Anthony Anderson, who resides in Queens County, New York, brought this action without a lawyer against “the Pentagon,” which the opinion describes as the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense in Arlington, Virginia. Anderson alleged that his claims arose in 2022 at the Blue Earth County Jail in Minnesota. He also referred to letters he sent to the Pentagon concerning nuclear threats involving Vladimir Putin and said that he was prepared to cooperate with United States security interests. He further alleged due-process violations in Minnesota’s Blue Earth County Court System, without naming a defendant connected to those allegations.
Venue analysis
The court applied the federal venue rules for civil actions and actions against a federal agency. It concluded that venue did not lie in the Southern District of New York. Anderson resides in Queens County, which is in the Eastern District of New York, and he alleged that the events underlying his claims occurred in Minnesota.
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), when a case is filed in the wrong venue, the court may dismiss it or, when justice favors that result, transfer it to a district where the case could have been brought. The court determined that the claims could have been brought in the District of Minnesota because the alleged events occurred in Blue Earth County, Minnesota.
Ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the Clerk of Court to transfer the action to the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. The order closed the case in the Southern District of New York. It stated that the transferee court would decide whether Anderson could proceed without paying filing fees, and it directed that no summons issue from the New York court. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order addressed venue and did not decide the underlying claims.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.