Hardaway v. Board of Prison Terms, et al

Filing 4

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman on 9/24/2012 ORDERING that this matter is TRANSFERRED to the USDC for the Northern District of California; plaintiff has not yet paid the filing fee or filed an ifp application. CASE CLOSED. (Yin, K)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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SONNY RAY HARDAWAY,

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Plaintiff,

No. 2:12-cv-2292 KJN P

vs.
BOARD OF PRISON TERMS, et al.,
Defendants.

ORDER
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Plaintiff is a state prisoner incarcerated at Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad,

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California. Plaintiff, who proceeds without counsel, has filed a pleading designated a civil rights

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complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, although the contents of the petition suggest that

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plaintiff may be seeking a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Under either

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construction, the pleading was improperly filed in this court.

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The federal venue statute requires that a civil action, other than one based on

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diversity jurisdiction, be brought only in “(1) a judicial district where any defendant resides, if all

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defendants reside in the same State, (2) a judicial district in which a substantial part of the events

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or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred, or a substantial part of property that is the subject

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of the action is situated, or (3) a judicial district in which any defendant may be found, if there is

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no district in which the action may otherwise be brought.” 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b).
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In the instant case, the complaint identifies Sacramento as the place in which

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defendant Board of Prison Terms does business, and hence the business address of Jeffrey

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Champlin, who is apparently a CDCR official. However, it appears that the alleged acts took

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place at Salinas Valley State Prison and, therefore, that the claim arose in Monterey County,

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which is in the Northern District of California. Therefore, plaintiff’s claim should have been

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filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. In the interests of

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justice, a federal court may transfer a complaint filed in the wrong district to the correct district.

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See 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a); Starnes v. McGuire, 512 F.2d 918, 932 (D.C. Cir. 1974).

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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

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1. This matter is transferred to the United States District Court for the Northern
District of California.

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2. The undersigned notes that plaintiff has not yet paid the filing fee or filed an

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application to proceed in forma pauperis.

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DATED: September 24, 2012

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_____________________________________
KENDALL J. NEWMAN
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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