Opinion
2:22-cv-0575 KJN P
04-27-2022
TERRY RAY HORNBECK, Petitioner, v. DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION, Respondent.
ORDER
KENDALL J. NEWMAN, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE.
Petitioner, a state prisoner proceeding pro se, filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254.
In this action, petitioner appears to challenge conditions of confinement rather than the validity of his conviction or sentence. Accordingly, the undersigned construes this action as a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Petitioner is incarcerated in Calipatria State Prison. Calipatria State Prison is in Imperial County which lies in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.
The federal venue statute provides that 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 action, 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, petitioner's claims arose in Imperial County which is in the Southern District of California. Therefore, petitioner's claims should have been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. In the interest of justice, a federal court may transfer a civil rights action filed in the wrong district to the correct district. See 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a); Starnes v. McGuire, 512 F.2d 918, 932 (D.C. Cir. 1974).
Accordingly, in the furtherance of justice, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this matter is transferred to the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.