Johnson v. Gailius et al

Filing 17

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER, denying as moot 12 MOTION to Transfer Case filed by Anthony Johnson. Signed by Judge J. Phil Gilbert on 1/12/2015. (jdh)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
ANTHONY JOHNSON,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No. 14-cv-1022-JPG-SCW

CHIEF NICK GAILIUS, CITY OF
FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS, OFFICER
BRANDON STRICKLAND, OFFICER
DREW RUTTER, OFFICER DURT SCHUTZ
and OFFICER JEFFERY BLAIR,
Defendants.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
This matter comes before the Court on plaintiff Anthony Johnson’s motion to transfer the
venue of this case from Benton to East St. Louis pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) (Doc. 12). He
argues that East St. Louis is more convenient in that it is closer to the parties, witnesses and
attorneys, to the site of the alleged incident and to the closest major airport. The defendants
object (Doc. 16), arguing that the equities do not weigh strongly in favor of a transfer.
Notwithstanding 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), the plaintiff’s request would not achieve the result
he seeks. Although this case arose in St. Claire County, which is within the East St. Louis
Division of the Southern District of Illinois, see http://www.ilsd.uscourts.gov/TheCourt.aspx,
since June 1, 2006, civil cases in this district have been randomly assigned to judges without
regard to the administrative divisions of the Court, see S.D. Ill. Admin. Order 89,
http://www.ilsd.uscourts.gov/AdminOrders.aspx. Administrative Order 89 effectively destroyed
the significance of the separate divisions in this district. Thus, even if the Court were to
technically “transfer” the venue of this case to the East St. Louis Division, it would remain
assigned to the undersigned judge, who would continue to conduct proceedings in Benton. Thus,

the Court DENIES the plaintiff’s motion (Doc. 12) as moot. Should the parties believe there are
compelling reasons to conduct this trial in East St. Louis instead of Benton, they may raise the
issue at the Final Pretrial Conference.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: January 12, 2015
s/J. Phil Gilbert
J. PHIL GILBERT
DISTRICT JUDGE

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