Walker v. Ford et al

Filing 4

MEMORANDUM & ORDER: Assessing Filing Fee $350 for Derrick Walker. Therefore, the Application is GRANTED. The Clerk shall file the Complaint in forma pauperis. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). However, process shall NOT issue at this time. Accordingly , the Clerk is directed to TRANSFER this case to the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Eastern Division at Jackson, Tennessee. 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). The Clerk is further instructed to send a copy of this or der to the Warden of the South Central Correctional Center to ensure that the custodian of the Plaintiff's inmate trust account complies with that portion of the Prison Litigation Reform Act relating to the payment of the filing fee. Signed by Chief Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr on 8/2/17. (xc:Pro se party by regular mail. ) (Warden sent copy of order by regular mail.)(DOCKET TEXT SUMMARY ONLY-ATTORNEYS MUST OPEN THE PDF AND READ THE ORDER.)(am)[Transferred from Tennessee Middle on 8/2/2017.]

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
NASHVILLE DIVISION
DERRICK WALKER,
Plaintiff,
v.
TAMMIE FORD, et al,
Defendants.

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NO. 3:17-cv-01076
CHIEF JUDGE CRENSHAW

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

The Plaintiff, Derrick Walker, is an inmate at the South Central Correctional Center in
Clifton, Tennessee. He has filed pro se a prisoner Complaint (Doc. No. 1) under 42 U.S.C. § 1983
and an Application to proceed in forma pauperis (Doc. No. 2).
It appears from his Application that the Plaintiff lacks sufficient financial resources from
which to pay the fee required to file the Complaint. Therefore, the Application is GRANTED. The
Clerk shall file the Complaint in forma pauperis. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). However, process shall NOT
issue at this time.
The Plaintiff is hereby ASSESSED the civil filing fee of $350.00. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §
1915(b)(1)(A) and (B), the custodian of the Plaintiff's inmate trust account at the institution where
he now resides is directed to submit to the Clerk of Court, as an initial partial payment, whichever
is greater of:
(a) twenty percent (20%) of the average monthly deposits to the Plaintiff's inmate trust
account; or

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(b) twenty percent (20%) of the average monthly balance in the Plaintiff's inmate trust
account for the prior six (6) months.
Thereafter, the custodian shall submit twenty percent (20%) of the Plaintiff's preceding
monthly income (or income credited to the Plaintiff's trust account for the preceding month), but
only when such monthly income exceeds ten dollars ($10.00), until the full filing fee of three
hundred fifty dollars ($350.00) as authorized under 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a) has been paid to the Clerk
of Court. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2).
On May 29, 2017, several members of a prison gang at the Whiteville Correctional Facility
(WCF) gained access to the Plaintiff’s cell where he was stabbed multiple times. (Doc. No. 1 at 3.)
According to the Complaint, a guard (Officer Parks) assisted the gang members and made the attack
possible. (Id.) The Plaintiff alleges that all the Defendants created “a dangerous condition of
confinement by failing to prevent this stabbing despite Plaintiff’s repeated warnings to WCF Staff
of the potential harm to his person.” (Id.) In addition, the Plaintiff claims that the Defendants were
deliberately indifferent to his serious medical needs after the attack. (Id.)
Venue for a civil rights action is governed by 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b). That provision requires
that an action, such as the instant case, be brought only in (1) a judicial district where any Defendant
resides, if all Defendants reside in the same state, (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 the property that
is the subject of the action is situated, or (3) a judicial district in which the Defendants are subject
to personal jurisdiction at the time that the action is commenced, if there is no district in which the
action may otherwise be brought.
The Plaintiff has named as defendants Tammie Ford, Warden of WCF, four members of the

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WCF staff (Howell, Parks, John Doe #1 and John Doe #2), and Corizon Medical Services, the health
care provider for the inmates at WCF. All of these Defendants can be found in or around Hardeman
County. The Plaintiff’s claims arose at the Whiteville Correctional Facility in Hardeman County.
Since Hardeman County lies within the Western District of Tennessee, 28 U.S.C. § 123(c)(1), venue
for this action properly belongs in that judicial district.
Accordingly, the Clerk is directed to TRANSFER this case to the United States District
Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Eastern Division at Jackson, Tennessee. 28 U.S.C. §
1406(a). The Clerk is further instructed to send a copy of this order to the Warden of the South
Central Correctional Center to ensure that the custodian of the Plaintiff's inmate trust account
complies with that portion of the Prison Litigation Reform Act relating to the payment of the filing
fee.
IT IS SO ORDERED.

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WAVERLY D. CRENSHAW, JR.
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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