Harper v. State of Nebraska
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-01726
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
Harper v. State of Nebraska: Judge Swain transferred Harper’s civil-rights case to Nebraska because venue did not appear proper in New York.
Clyde Ernest Harper, the State of Nebraska, and the State of Iowa; the case was moved from the Southern District of New York to the District of Nebraska.
What happened
In Harper v. State of Nebraska, Clyde Ernest Harper, who is incarcerated in Nebraska and has no lawyer, sued the States of Nebraska and Iowa under a federal civil-rights law. He sought his freedom and money for alleged false imprisonment from 1999 through 2024.
The court said the complaint did not show that the events occurred in New York or that venue was proper there. It also noted that the complaint contained no facts about events in Iowa. The court therefore transferred the case to the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, where the events, parties, documents, and witnesses appeared to be located.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the transfer and closed the case in the Southern District of New York. She left the decision about whether Harper could proceed without paying filing fees to the Nebraska court and denied fee-free status for any appeal from this order.
The detailed version
- Harper v. State of Nebraska · No. 1:24-cv-01726
- Laura Swain
- Mar. 15, 2024
Background
Clyde Ernest Harper filed a complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal law allowing claims that state officials violated federally protected rights. Harper, who is incarcerated in the Omaha Correctional Facility in Nebraska, proceeded without a lawyer. He sued the State of Nebraska and the State of Iowa and sought his “liberty and monetary payments for false imprisonment 1999 – 2024.”
Harper’s complaint stated that Nebraska did not respect civil or constitutional rights, but it did not describe events occurring in Iowa. The opinion says the allegations suggested that the claims arose outside the Southern District of New York.
Venue and transfer
Venue is the proper federal district for a lawsuit. The court explained that federal law generally permits a civil action where a defendant resides, where a substantial part of the events occurred, or, if neither applies, where a defendant is subject to the court’s authority.
The court concluded that venue did not appear proper in New York under the general venue statute. It also considered transferring the case for the convenience of the parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice. The court found that transfer was appropriate because the underlying events occurred in Nebraska, where the opinion states that all parties were located and where relevant documents and witnesses could reasonably be expected to be located.
Disposition
The court transferred the action to the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1404(a) and 1406. The Clerk was directed to complete the transfer. The Southern District of New York closed the case, and no summons was to issue from that court. The Nebraska court was left to decide whether Harper could proceed without prepaying fees. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain’s order addressed venue and the proper location of the case; it did not decide whether Harper’s allegations were legally or factually valid.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.