Fields v. USP Lee

E.D. Texas

Fields v. USP Lee

DecidedJune 26, 2025

Docket1:25-cv-00334

StatusUnknown

This text of Fields v. USP Lee (Fields v. USP Lee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Fields v. USP Lee, (E.D. Tex. 2025).

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS BEAUMONT DIVISION SHERMAN LAMONT FIELDS § VS. § CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:25cv334 USP LEE § MEMORANDUM OPINION REGARDING VENUE Plaintiff Sherman Lamont Fields, an inmate currently confined at the USP Lee in Jonesville, Virginia, proceeding pro se, brings this civil rights complaint against officials at his unit of assignment. The above-styled action was referred to the undersigned Magistrate Judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636 and the Local Rules for the Assignment of Duties to the United States Magistrate Judge for findings of fact, conclusions of law, and recommendations for the disposition of the case. Analysis Venue in civil rights cases is controlled by 28 U.S.C. § 1391. Jones v. Bailey, 58 F.R.D. 453 (N.D. Ga. 1972), aff’d per curium, 480 F.2d 805 (5th Cir. 1973). When, as in this case, jurisdiction is not founded solely on diversity of citizenship, 28 U.S.C. § 1391 provides that venue is proper only in the judicial district where the defendants reside or in which the claim arose. Here, Plaintiff complains of alleged constitutional violations which occurred at the USP Lee in Jonesville, Virginia. Further, the defendants are located in Jonesville, Virginia. When public officials are parties to an action in their official capacities, they reside for venue purposes in the county where they perform their official duties, which in this case is Jonesville, Lee County, Virginia. Holloway v. Gunnell, 685 F.2d 150 (5th Cir. 1982); Lowrey v. Estelle, 433 F.2d 265 (5th Cir. 1976). Lee County, Virginia is located within the jurisdictional boundaries of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia. Accordingly, venue for such claims is not proper in the Eastern District of Texas. When venue is not proper, the court “shall dismiss, or if it be in the interest of justice, transfer such case to any district or division in which it could have been brought.” 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). The claims in this action should be transferred to the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia. An appropriate order so providing will be entered by the undersigned.

SIGNED this 26th day of June, 2025.

Zack _ United States Magistrate Judge

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS BEAUMONT DIVISION SHERMAN LAMONT FIELDS § VS. § CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:25cv334 USP LEE § MEMORANDUM OPINION REGARDING VENUE Plaintiff Sherman Lamont Fields, an inmate currently confined at the USP Lee in Jonesville, Virginia, proceeding pro se, brings this civil rights complaint against officials at his unit of assignment. The above-styled action was referred to the undersigned Magistrate Judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636 and the Local Rules for the Assignment of Duties to the United States Magistrate Judge for findings of fact, conclusions of law, and recommendations for the disposition of the case. Analysis Venue in civil rights cases is controlled by 28 U.S.C. § 1391. Jones v. Bailey, 58 F.R.D. 453 (N.D. Ga. 1972), aff’d per curium, 480 F.2d 805 (5th Cir. 1973). When, as in this case, jurisdiction is not founded solely on diversity of citizenship, 28 U.S.C. § 1391 provides that venue is proper only in the judicial district where the defendants reside or in which the claim arose. Here, Plaintiff complains of alleged constitutional violations which occurred at the USP Lee in Jonesville, Virginia. Further, the defendants are located in Jonesville, Virginia. When public officials are parties to an action in their official capacities, they reside for venue purposes in the county where they perform their official duties, which in this case is Jonesville, Lee County, Virginia. Holloway v. Gunnell, 685 F.2d 150 (5th Cir. 1982); Lowrey v. Estelle, 433 F.2d 265 (5th Cir. 1976). Lee County, Virginia is located within the jurisdictional boundaries of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia. Accordingly, venue for such claims is not proper in the Eastern District of Texas. When venue is not proper, the court “shall dismiss, or if it be in the interest of justice, transfer such case to any district or division in which it could have been brought.” 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). The claims in this action should be transferred to the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia. An appropriate order so providing will be entered by the undersigned.

SIGNED this 26th day of June, 2025.

Zack _ United States Magistrate Judge

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