Opinion
Civil Action 00-0246-P-M.
April 27, 2000
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Plaintiff, an Alabama prison inmate who is proceeding pro se, filed an action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This action has been referred to the undersigned for appropriate action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B) and Local Rule 72.2(c)(4). It is recommended that this action be transferred to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.
Plaintiff named Paul Whaley, Director of Classification for the Alabama Department of Corrections, as the sole Defendant. Defendant Whaley is located in Montgomery, Alabama, in the Middle District of Alabama. (Doc. 1) In this action, Plaintiff seeks to have false information removed from his prison file. Plaintiff claims that at Kilby Correctional Facility in the Middle District he was improperly classified under the guideline of felony assault on a police officer, which has rendered him ineligible for community or minimum custody consideration, and that Defendant Whaley has refused to reclassify him. Plaintiff is incarcerated at Fountain Correctional Facility in the Southern District of Alabama.
A § 1983 action may be brought 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); see New Alliance Party of Ala. v. Hand, 933 F.2d 1568, 1570 (11th Cir. 1991) (applying § 1391(b)'s venue provisions to a § 1983 action). However, when venue is not proper in the district of filing, in the interest of justice, a district court may transfer the action to any other district or division where the action might have been brought. 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a).
In the present action, the events giving rise to Plaintiff's action occurred in the Middle District of Alabama and the sole Defendant to this action is located in the Middle District of Alabama. Venue is, therefore, lacking in the Southern District. Accordingly, it is recommended that, in the interest of justice, this action be transferred to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a).