Opinion
Civil Action 21-2233 (UNA)
08-25-2021
PATRICK L. WEBSTER, JR., Plaintiff, v. GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS, Defendant.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
EMMET G. SULLIVAN, United States District Judge
This matter is before the Court on the plaintiff's application to proceed in forma pauperis and his pro se complaint. The plaintiff finds himself at the Columbia Regional Care Center in Columbia, South Carolina, by Order of the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands for the purpose of determining his mental competence to stand trial. He demands his release and an award of $1.2 billion for harms arising from his arrest and detention.
To the extent the plaintiff demands release from custody, his claim sounds in habeas. The proper respondent in a habeas corpus action is the plaintiff's custodian, Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426, 434-35 (2004), and this “district court may not entertain a habeas petition involving present physical custody unless the respondent custodian is within its territorial jurisdiction, ” Stokes v. U.S. Parole Comm'n, 374 F.3d 1235, 1239 (D.C. Cir. 2004). Neither the plaintiff nor his custodian is found in the District of Columbia.
Generally, a plaintiff may bring suit 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 section, 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). Under none of these criteria is the District of Columbia a proper venue for adjudication of the plaintiff's claims.
Accordingly, the Court will grant the plaintiff's application to proceed in forma pauperis and dismiss the complaint and this civil action without prejudice. An Order is issued separately.