Chapman v. Federal Bureau of Prisons

235 F. Supp. 3d 1066, 2017 WL 386819, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11395
District Court, S.D. Indiana·Decided January 27, 2017·No. Cause No. 2:16-cv-455-WTL-MJD·Published

Opinion

ENTRY ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION.

Hon. William T. Lawrence,- Judge, United States District Court

This cause is before the Court on Plaintiff Seifullah Chapman’s motion asking this Court to reconsider the order of the District of Colorado transferring Chapman’s claim for injunctive relief against the Federal Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) to ■ this district. The motion is fully briefed and the Court, being duly advised, GRANTS the motion (Dkt. No. 202) for the reasons- set forth below and‘ORDERS that this-case be transferred to the District of Colorado.

Chapman is a federal prisoner who alleges that he.suffers from “a severe form of Type 1 diabetes that causes him to suffer extreme, sudden,, and dangerous swings in blood-glucose, levels” and that the BOP has “systematically failed to provide adequate medical ■ care to * - [him] throughout his incarceration, exhibiting a pattern of historical institutional indifference to his serious medical needs.” Dkt. No. 203 at 1, 2. The crux of Chapman’s complaint is that his condition requires “consistency in every aspect” of his medical care to avoid substantial risk of serious harm, Amended Complaint at ¶ 1, and that the BOP has failed to' provide consistent care.

Chapman is serving a lengthy sentence and thus far has been.incarcerated in several federal prisons. In December 2010, Chapman was transferred to the U.S. Penitentiary—Administrative Maximum Security prison in Florence, Colorado (“ADX”). In 2015, Chapman filed suit in the District of Colorado against the BOP and several BOP employees at the ADX. In his Amended Complaint (Dkt. No. 24), Chapman alleged that the Defendants had systematically failed to provide him with the ¡medical care and other resources (such as the ability to exercise) necessary to properly manage his diabetes While he was incarcerated in ADX. ‘

In November 2015, Chapman was transferred from ADX to the United States [1068] Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana (“USPTH”). The BOP then moved to dismiss Chapman’s claim for injunctive relief against it on the ground that it was now moot, inasmuch as it was based upon the treatment he received at ADX. Chapman opposed that motion, arguing that the in-junctive relief he seeks “is not institution-specific, but rather is properly characterized as constitutionally-adequate medical care wherever he is incarcerated by Defendant BOP.” Dkt. No. 128 at 6. Chapman also asserted in response to the motion that he had continued to receive inadequate medical care after being transferred to USPTH. The District of Colorado agreed with Chapman that his claim for injunctive relief had not been mooted by his transfer to USPTH. The court held that because Chapman “is still in BOP custody and under the authority of the BOP,” which is “an entity capable of altering the manner in which it provides medical care for Plaintiffs Type 1 diabetes,” there was still injunctive relief that he could obtain against the BOP, including an order that the BOP modify its policies.

In September 2016, the BOP filed a motion to sever Chapman’s injunctive relief claim against it from his claim for damages against the individual Defendants and transfer the injunctive relief claim to this district. In so moving, the BOP characterized that claim as “the claim relating to USP-Terre Haute” and stated that Chapman had “recently clarified” in his discovery responses that his “injunctive-relief claim relates to his medical care at USP-Terre Haute, as it must.” Dkt. No. 168 at 1-2. Over Chapman’s strenuous objection, the District of Colorado granted the BOP’s motion and transferred Chapman’s claim for injunctive relief against the BOP to this district. Chapman’s claim for damages relating to his treatment at ADX remain pending in the District of Colorado.

Chapman now asks this Court to reconsider the District of Colorado’s transfer order. While of course it is literally impossible for this Court to “reconsider” a decision made by another Court, the Court agrees with Chapman’s assessment that a motion to reconsider is the appropriate procedural mechanism for him to argue that this case should be returned to Colorado. The BOP does not disagree and notes, correctly, that “[a] court has the power to revisit prior decisions of its own or of a coordinate court in any circumstance, although as a rule courts should be loathe to do so in the absence of extraordinary circumstances such as where the initial decision was clearly erroneous and would work a manifest injustice.” Dkt. No. 206 at 1-2 (quoting Christianson v. Colt Indus. Operating Corp., 486 U.S. 800, 817, 108 S.Ct. 2166, 100 L.Ed.2d 811 (1988)). As explained below, after much consideration, the Court determines that justice requires that this case be returned to the District of Colorado.

28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) provides: “For the convenience of the parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice, a district court may transfer any civil action to any other district’ or division where it might have been brought.”

The statutory language guides the court’s evaluation of the particular circumstances of each case and is broad enough to allow the court to take into account all factors relevant to convenience and/or the interests of justice. The statute permits a “flexible and individualized analysis” and affords district courts the opportunity to look beyond a narrow or rigid set of considerations in their determinations.
With respect to the convenience evaluation, courts generally consider the availability of and access to witnesses, and [1069] each party’s access to and distance from resources in each forum. Other related factors include the location of material events and the relative ease of access to sources of proof.
The “interest of justice” is a separate element of the transfer analysis that relates to the efficient administration of the court system. For this element, courts look to factors including docket congestion and likely speed to trial in the transferor and potential transferee forums; each court’s relative familiarity with the relevant law; the respective desirability of resolving controversies in each locale; and the relationship of each community to the controversy. The interest of justice may be determinative, warranting transfer or its denial even where the convenience of the parties and witnesses points toward the opposite result.

Research Automation, Inc. v. Schrader-Bridgeport Int’l, Inc., 626 F.3d 973, 978 (7th Cir. 2010) (internal citations omitted).

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Chapman v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, 235 F. Supp. 3d 1066, 2017 WL 386819, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11395 (S.D. Ind. 2017).

235 F. Supp. 3d 1066 (Chapman v. Federal Bureau of Prisons) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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