Opinion
No. C 02-4499 MMC (PR)
October 2, 2002
ORDER OF TRANSFER
Plaintiff is a prisoner currently incarcerated at the High Desert State Prison in Susanville, California ("HDSP"). He filed this pro se civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against an HDSP employee and seeks accommodation of his disability in order to have access to email. He alleges that defendant's failure to accommodate this need violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. Susanville is located in Lassen County, California, which is in the Eastern District of California. See 28 U.S.C. § 84 (b).
Venue may be raised by the court sua sponte where the defendant has not yet filed a responsive pleading and the time for doing so has not run.See Costlow v. Weeks, 790 F.2d 1486, 1488 (9th Cir. 1986). When jurisdiction is not founded solely on diversity, venue is proper in (1) the district in which any defendant resides, if all of the defendants reside in the same state; (2) the 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 any defendant may be found, if there is no district in which the action may otherwise be brought. See 28 U.S.C. § 1391 (b). When venue is improper, the district court has the discretion to either dismiss the case or transfer it "in the interest of justice." See 28 U.S.C. § 1406 (a).
Plaintiffs claims arise out of actions by an HDSP employee in Susanville, California, in the Eastern District of California. Accordingly, in the interest of justice, this action is hereby TRANSFERRED to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. In light of the transfer, this Court will not rule on plaintiffs application to proceed in forma pauperis.
The clerk is directed to transfer the action forthwith and to terminate all pending motions from the court's docket.