Lietzke v. City of Montgomery et al

Filing 2

ORDER TRANSFERRING CASE, by Judge Robert S. Lasnik.The Clerk of Court is directed to TRANSFER this case to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). As a result, plaintiffs application to proceed in forma pauperis (Dkt. No. 1) is DENIED as MOOT.

Lietzke v. City of Montgomery et al

Doc. 2

Case 2:07-cv-00889-RSL

Document 2

Filed 06/19/2007

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01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 BILL LIETZKE, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) CITY OF MONTGOMERY, et al., ) ) Defendants. ) _____________________________________ ) Case No. C07-889-RSL

ORDER TRANSFERRING CASE

Plaintiff Bill Lietzke, appearing pro se, has filed an application to proceed in forma

16 pauperis and a proposed 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights complaint against the City of 17 Montgomery, Alabama, and several of its law enforcement officials. Dkt. No. 1-1. After 18 careful consideration of the complaint, governing law, and the balance of the record, the 19 Court finds that venue is improper, and ORDERS that this case be TRANSFERRED to the 20 United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. 21 22 A. The Complaint

Plaintiff's complaint alleges that from June 9, 1997, through March 4, 2007, the City

23 of Montgomery, through several of its police officers, repeatedly harassed him on several of 24 the public streets of Montgomery. Dkt. No. 1-1 at 5-21. The complaint alleges that 25 plaintiff's First Amendment rights of free speech and assembly were violated, and states 26 causes of action for negligence, criminal trespass, false imprisonment, assault, harassment,

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Dockets.Justia.com

Case 2:07-cv-00889-RSL

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Filed 06/19/2007

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01 and menacing. Id. at 21-24. Plaintiff seeks the immediate imprisonment of the named 02 individual defendants, more than one billion dollars in compensatory damages, and an 03 "immediate shut down" of the "intersections of Grove Street at South Court Street, and Grove 04 Street at South McDonough Street." Id. at 4. 05 06 B. Improper Venue

Venue for actions not based solely on diversity of citizenship is determined by 28

07 U.S.C. § 1391(b), which states: 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 A civil action wherein jurisdiction is not founded solely on diversity of citizenship may, except as otherwise provided by law, 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 property that is the subject of the action is situated, or (3) a judicial district in which any defendant may be found, if there is no district in which the action may otherwise be brought. 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b) (emphasis added). Here, each of the named defendants--the City of Montgomery, Mayor Bobby Bright,

15 Police Chief Art Baylor, and Walter Byers--reside in the State of Alabama, not the State of 16 Washington. Furthermore, all of the events or omissions giving rise to the claims in 17 plaintiff's complaint occurred in Alabama, not Washington. Accordingly, venue is not proper 18 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. 19 Title 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a) provides that "[t]he district court of a district in which is

20 filed a case laying venue in the wrong division or district shall dismiss, or if it be in the 21 interest of justice, transfer such case to any district or division in which it could have been 22 brought." Because the defendants reside in Alabama, and because all of the acts or omissions 23 giving rise to plaintiff's claims occurred in Alabama, this action could have been brought in 24 the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. The Court finds that a 25 transfer to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama is in the 26 interests of justice.

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Case 2:07-cv-00889-RSL

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Filed 06/19/2007

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01 02

C.

Conclusion

The Clerk of Court is directed to TRANSFER this case to the United States District

03 Court for the Middle District of Alabama pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). As a result, 04 plaintiff's application to proceed in forma pauperis (Dkt. No. 1) is DENIED as MOOT. 05 The Clerk of Court is further directed to send a copy of this Order to plaintiff and to

06 the Honorable James P. Donohue, United States Magistrate Judge. 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Recommended for entry 19 this 19th day of June, 2007. 20 /s/ JAMES P. DONOHUE 21 United States Magistrate Judge 22 23 24 25 26 DATED this 19th day of June, 2007.

A

Robert S. Lasnik United States District Judge

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