Berry v. Livingston

Opinion

FILED AUG 29 2011 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT Clerk, U.S. District & Bankruptcy FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COUTts tor the DistrIct ot ColumbIa

Odis Odell Berry, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) Civil Action No. 11 155;; Brad Livingston et aI., ) ) Defendants. )

MEMORANDUM OPINION

This matter is before the Court on review of plaintiff s pro se complaint and application

to proceed in forma pauperis. The application will be granted and the complaint will be

dismissed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A (requiring dismissal of a prisoner's complaint upon a

determination that the complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted).

Plaintiff is a Texas prisoner incarcerated in Rosharon, Texas. He has submitted a form

complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against numerous defendants in Texas, including prison

officials. See CompI. at 4 & attached list. Plaintiff accuses the defendants of torture, id. at 5, but

he has stated no facts to support such a claim. See Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 555 U.S. 544,

555 (2007) (a plaintiffs "[f]actual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the

speculative level .... ") (citations omitted). Even if plaintiff had stated a plausible claim, this

judicial district is not the proper venue for litigating claims against Texas defendants for alleged

misdeeds that occurred in Texas. See 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b) (designating the proper venue under

the circumstances presented as the judicial district "where any defendant resides" or where a

N 3 substantial part of the events occurred). Given the paucity of the complaint, the Court will

dismiss it for failure to state a claim. A separate Order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.

Date: August !~, 2011