Opinion
Case No. 16 C 4737
05-03-2016
PAUL CHATMAN, Plaintiff, v. ILLINOIS DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS, et al., Defendants.
MEMORANDUM ORDER
Prisoner plaintiff Paul Chatman ("Chatman") has sued the Illinois Department of Corrections ("IDOC") and a number of its employees sited at the Illinois River Correctional Center ("Illinois River"), charging them with violations of his constitutional rights. Chatman has accompanied his self-prepared Complaint with an "Application To Proceed in District Court Without Prepaying Fees or Costs" (the "Application").
It is really puzzling that Chatman captioned his typed Complaint "U.S. District Court (Nothern [sic] District)," for the Application form is one provided by the District Court for the Central District of Illinois, where Illinois River is located and where the events about which Chatman complains took place. Illinois River is in Canton, Illinois, which is located in Fulton County, part of the Central District of Illinois (28 U.S.C. § 93(b)) where this case should have been filed under the venue principles set out in Section 1392(b)(2).
All further references to Title 28's provisions will simply take the form "Section omitting the prefatory "28 U.S.C. §."
That being the case, this Court sua sponte transfers this case to the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois "in the interest of justice" (Section 1406(a)). And in that respect the transfer is directed to the federal courthouse in Peoria (if that is not the correct destination for a Fulton County case, it would be appreciated if the action will be forwarded to the appropriate site). All aspects of the case, including the Section 1915 handling of the Application, will be left to the transferee judge.
Although the cited statute also permits dismissal rather than transfer of the case, it would place an undue and needless burden on pro se plaintiff Chatman to compel him to redo the Complaint and Application in order to file a brand new case. --------
/s/_________
Milton I. Shadur
Senior United States District Judge Date: May 3, 2016