Ezekwo v. Moise
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-10360
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Ezekwo v. Moise, Judge Swain transferred this action from New York to New Jersey because related tax cases were already there.
Ifeoma Ezekwo and the defendants named in the action; the case was moved from the Southern District of New York to the District of New Jersey.
What happened
In Ezekwo v. Moise, Ifeoma Ezekwo, representing herself, sued employees and officials connected to the Internal Revenue Service, the Justice Department’s Tax Division, and the United States Tax Court. She alleged misconduct in collecting delinquent taxes and complained about conduct related to a Tax Court matter.
Ezekwo argued that venue was proper in the Southern District of New York because the Internal Revenue Service had placed tax liens on properties located there. The court noted that she lives in Tenafly, New Jersey, and had already filed two related civil actions in the District of New Jersey involving many of the same defendants.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain transferred the action to the District of New Jersey under the federal law allowing transfer for convenience and fairness. The court closed the case in the Southern District of New York, directed the clerk to transfer it, ordered that no summons issue there, and denied fee-free appeal status after certifying that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Ezekwo v. Moise · No. 1:23-cv-10360
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 4, 2024
Background
Ifeoma Ezekwo, who is representing herself, brought this action against 13 named defendants and John and Jane Does 1–10. The named defendants include an Internal Revenue Service field agent; attorneys for the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice Tax Division; Tax Division officials; a United States Tax Court judge; other attorneys involved in Tax Court matters; and the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. Ezekwo alleged misconduct and improprieties in the collection of delinquent taxes and appeared to challenge conduct connected with a Tax Court matter. She paid the $405 filing fee.
Ezekwo is identified as a resident of Tenafly, New Jersey. She argued that venue was proper in the Southern District of New York because the Internal Revenue Service had placed tax liens on properties located in that district. The opinion also states that she had filed two civil actions in the District of New Jersey arising from the same facts and involving many of the same defendants: No. 23-CV-2747 and No. 23-CV-2746.
Transfer ruling
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), a federal district court may transfer a case for the convenience of the parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice. The court explained that district courts have broad discretion in making that decision and may order a transfer on their own initiative. It found that the District of New Jersey was the favored forum because of Ezekwo’s residence, the tax-related and Tax Court-related claims, and the two earlier related actions there. The court also relied on the general principle that when related actions are pending in different federal districts, the forum of the first-filed action is strongly favored.
The court transferred the action to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey under Section 1404(a). It directed the clerk to transfer the action, ordered that a summons not issue from the Southern District of New York, and stated that the order closed the case in that court. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free appeal status for that purpose.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.