Rivera v. NYS DOCCS
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-11325
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Rivera v. NYS DOCCS, Judge Swain transferred Rivera’s civil-rights case to Northern New York because the events and witnesses were there.
Manuel Rivera and the defendants named in his action, including NYS DOCCS and the DOCCS employees identified in the opinion. The case was moved from the Southern District of New York to the Northern District of New York, where further decisions were left to the transferee court.
What happened
In Rivera v. NYS DOCCS, Manuel Rivera, representing himself, sued the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and several employees. He alleged that they violated his constitutional rights while he was incarcerated at Mid-State Correctional Facility in Oneida County, New York.
The court said it was unclear whether venue was proper in the Southern District of New York because the defendants’ residences were unknown. But the events occurred at Mid-State, and the court found that the Northern District of New York would likely be more convenient because the defendants worked there and relevant documents and witnesses were expected to be there.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the case transferred to the Northern District of New York under the federal venue-transfer law. The Southern District case was closed, no summons would issue there, and the transferee court would decide whether Rivera could continue without paying filing fees. The court also denied fee-free status for any appeal from the transfer order.
The detailed version
- Rivera v. NYS DOCCS · No. 1:23-cv-11325
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 4, 2024
Background
Manuel Rivera, proceeding without a lawyer, brought a civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, correctional employees, and several unidentified DOCCS employees. He alleged that the defendants violated his federal constitutional rights while he was incarcerated at Mid-State Correctional Facility in Marcy, Oneida County, New York. Rivera supplied Mid-State’s employment address for the individual defendants but did not state where they resided.
Venue and Transfer
Federal venue law permits a civil action to be filed where a defendant resides, where a substantial part of the events occurred, or, in certain circumstances, where a defendant is subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction. The court noted that it could not determine whether venue was proper in the Southern District of New York or the Northern District of New York under the residence-based rule because the defendants’ residences were unknown. It concluded, however, that venue was proper in the Northern District under the rule covering the place where the events occurred, because Mid-State is in Oneida County.
The court also applied 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), which allows transfer to another district where the case could have been brought when transfer would serve convenience and the interests of justice. The court focused on the fact that the underlying events occurred at Mid-State, the defendants were employed there, and relevant documents and witnesses were reasonably expected to be there. It determined that the Northern District of New York appeared to be the more convenient forum.
Ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the Clerk of Court to transfer the action to the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. The order closed the case in the Southern District of New York, stated that no summons would issue from that court, and left the decision about whether Rivera could proceed without prepaying fees to the transferee court. The court 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 Rivera’s constitutional claims were valid.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.