Munson v. Draggon et al

Filing 4

Order to Transfer Case to the Western District of New York. Signed by Magistrate Judge Keith Strong on 4/1/2014. Mailed to Munson. (TAG, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF MONTANA
GREAT FALLS DIVISION
DR. JOHN WILLIAM MUNSON, Ph.D, Cause No. CV 14-0022-BMM-RKS
Plaintiff,
ORDER TO TRANSFER CASE TO THE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

vs.
JAMES DRAGGON, JAMES
VOUTOUR, and PAUL DYSTER,
Defendants.

Plaintiff John Munson has filed a Motion for Leave to Proceed in Forma
Pauperis and a proposed Complaint. (Doc. 1, 2.) He seeks to bring claims against
the named Defendants for use of excessive force in the Niagara County Jail in July
2013. This district is not the proper venue for this action and the case will be
transferred to the Western District of New York.1
The proper venue for a civil action filed in a district court of the United

1

Because an order transferring venue pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a) is not
one of the motions excepted in 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A) and is not dispositive of
any claim on the merits within the meaning of Rule 72 of the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure, it is within the province of a magistrate judge’s authority.
Corrinet v. Burke, 2012 WL 1952658, at *6 (D.Or. Apr. 30, 2012); Pavao v.
Unifund CCR Partners, 2013 WL 1289756, at *1, n.1 (S.D.Cal. 2013); Holmes v.
TV–3, Inc., 141 F.R.D. 697, 697 (W.D.La. 1991).
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States is defined by 28 U.S.C. § 1391 as follows:
(b) Venue in general–A civil action may be brought in–
(1) a judicial district in which any defendant resides, if all defendants
are residents of the State in which the district is located;
(2) a judicial district in which a substantial part of the events or
omissions giving rise to the claim occurred, or a substantial part of
property that is the subject of the action is situated; or
(3) if there is no district in which an action may otherwise be brought
as provided in this section, any judicial district in which any defendant
is subject to the court's personal jurisdiction with respect to such
action.
28 U.S.C. § 1391(b). In this case, all the defendants are citizens of New York and
all the events giving rise to Dr. Munson’s claims occurred in Niagara Falls, New
York. Venue for this suit lies not in this Court but in the Western District of New
York.
28 U.S.C. §1406(a) provides that “[t]he district court of a district in which is
filed a case laying venue in the wrong division or district shall dismiss, or if it be in
the interest of justice, transfer such case to any district or division in which it could
have been brought.” It is in the interest of justice to transfer this case to Western
District of New York.
It is ORDERED:
This matter is transferred to the United States District Court for the Western
2

District of New York.
DATED this 1st day of April, 2014.

/s/ Keith Strong
Keith Strong
United States Magistrate Judge

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