Banks v. Martin et al

Filing 4

ORDER TRANSFERRING CASE to the Western District of Michigan. Signed by District Judge Linda V. Parker. (DPer)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION
SHAROD BANKS,
Plaintiff,

CASE NO. 2:20-cv-12973
HONORABLE LINDA V. PARKER

v.
DUNCAN MARTIN, ARTHUR DERRY,
CORRECTIONS OFFICER CALDWELL,
and CORRECTIONS OFFICER HASKINS,
Defendants.
____________________________________/
ORDER TRANSFERRING CASE TO THE UNITED STATES
DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
This matter is before the Court on a state prisoner’s pro se civil rights
complaint. (ECF No. 1.) Because this cause of action arose in Chippewa County,
where Defendants are employed, the proper venue for this action is the United
States District Court for the Western District of Michigan. Accordingly, the Court
is transferring the case there.
Background
Plaintiff Sharod Banks is a state prisoner at the Chippewa Correctional
Facility in Kincheloe, Michigan, where Defendants are employed by the Michigan
Department of Corrections. (Id. at Pg ID 2-3.) Defendant Duncan Martin is a

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correctional sergeant; Defendant Arthur Derry is a prison “RUM;” and Defendants
Caldwell and Haskins are corrections officers. (Id.)
Plaintiff alleges that, on several occasions earlier this year, corrections
officials permitted other prisoners to enter his cell and sexually assault him. (Id. at
Pg ID 6-7.) More specifically, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants Caldwell and
Haskins harassed him daily and permitted other prisoners to enter his cell while he
slept. (Id. at Pg ID 5, 15.) Defendant Duncan Martin apparently denied Plaintiff’s
administrative grievances about the issue (see id. at Pg ID5), and Martin and
Defendant Derry allegedly failed to do anything to stop the abuse or to help
Plaintiff. (Id. at Pg ID 5, 7.) Plaintiff also alleges that someone hit him in the
mouth while he was sleeping. (Id. at Pg ID 8.) He seeks money damages for
alleged violations of his Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual
punishment, including deliberate indifference to assaults and sexual abuse. (Id. at
4, 8.)
Discussion and Order
A preliminary question is whether this district is the proper venue for
Plaintiff’s Complaint. A civil action may be filed in: (1) a judicial district where
any defendant resides, if all the defendants are residents of the State in which the
district is located; (2) a judicial district where a substantial part of the events or
omissions giving rise to the claim occurred; or (3) if there is no district in which an
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action may otherwise be brought, any judicial district in which any defendant is
subject to the court’s personal jurisdiction. 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b).
Public officials “reside” in the judicial district where they perform their
official duties. O’Neill v. Battisti, 472 F.2d 789, 791 (6th Cir. 1972) (per curiam)
(quoting 1 Moore’s Federal Practice 1487-88). For the convenience of parties and
witnesses, and in the interest of justice, a federal district court may transfer a civil
action to any district where the action could have been brought. 28 U.S.C.
§ 1404(a); see also 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a) (authorizing district courts in the interest
of justice to transfer a case laying venue in the wrong district to any district where
it could have been brought).
As noted above, the events or omissions giving rise to Plaintiff’s Complaint
occurred at the Chippewa Correctional Facility in Kincheloe, Michigan, and
Defendants are all employed there. Kincheloe is in Chippewa County, which lies
within the geographical borders of the Northern Division of the United States
District Court for the Western District of Michigan. See 28 U.S.C. § 102(b)(2).
Therefore, the proper venue for this action is the Western District of Michigan.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that the Clerk of Court shall TRANSFER this case to the
Northern Division of the United States District Court for the Western District of
Michigan. The Court has not screened Plaintiff’s Complaint under 28 U.S.C.
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§§ 1915(e)(2) and 1915A, nor determined whether Plaintiff may proceed without
prepayment of the fees and costs for this action.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
s/ Linda V. Parker
LINDA V. PARKER
U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE

Dated: November 16, 2020

I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was mailed to counsel of
record and/or pro se parties on this date, November 16, 2020, by electronic
and/or U.S. First Class mail.

s/ R. Loury
Case Manager

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