Williams v. City of Louisville Police Dept.
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-03227
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Williams v. City of Louisville Police Department, Chief Judge Swain transferred Williams’s case to the Western District of Kentucky because venue was improper in New York.
The transfer affects Clifton Clinton Williams, IV, and the two named defendants by moving the action from the Southern District of New York to the Western District of Kentucky. The transferee court will decide whether Williams may proceed without prepaying fees.
What happened
In Williams v. City of Louisville Police Department, Clifton Clinton Williams, IV, proceeding without a lawyer, alleged that the defendants violated his constitutional rights in Louisville, Kentucky, including by incarcerating him under improper procedures and violating his privacy. The defendants were the City of Louisville Police Department and Victims Rights and Advocacy Human Resources.
The court found that New York was not the proper place for the case because the alleged events occurred in Louisville and the defendants were employed there. The court determined that the case could be brought in the Western District of Kentucky.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the Clerk to transfer the case to that district in the interest of justice. The order closed the case in the Southern District of New York, stated that the transferee court would decide whether Williams could proceed without prepaying fees, and denied payment-free status for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Williams v. City of Louisville Police Dept. · No. 1:24-cv-03227
- Laura Swain
- May 1, 2024
Background
Clifton Clinton Williams, IV, a resident of Brooklyn, New York, filed this action without a lawyer under federal-question jurisdiction. He alleged that the City of Louisville Police Department and Victims Rights and Advocacy Human Resources violated his constitutional rights in Louisville, Kentucky. His allegations included that Defendants incarcerated him under improper procedures and violated his privacy.
Venue analysis
The court applied 28 U.S.C. § 1391, which identifies the federal districts where a civil case may be filed. Williams did not allege the defendants’ residences, but he alleged that the events giving rise to his claims occurred in Louisville. The court stated that the defendants were employed in Louisville and that Louisville is in Jefferson County, Kentucky. Based on the complaint, the court concluded that venue was not proper in the Southern District of New York under the provisions concerning where defendants reside or where a substantial part of the events occurred.
Under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a), when a case is filed in the wrong venue, a court may dismiss it or, when justice requires, transfer it to a district where the case could have been filed. The court concluded that venue was proper in the Western District of Kentucky because Williams’s claims arose in Louisville, which is located in that district.
Disposition
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered the Clerk of Court to transfer the action to the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. The order closed the case in the Southern District of New York. It also stated that the transferee court would decide whether Williams could proceed without prepaying fees, and that no summons would issue from the Southern District of New York. The court certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied payment-free status for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.