Lewis v. Ben Hill County, Georgia

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA SAVANNAH DIVISION

CHANEY K. LEWIS, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) CV423-370 ) BEN HILL COUNTY, GEORGIA, ) ) Defendant. )

ORDER Pro se plaintiff Chaney K. Lewis, a prisoner at Wheeler Correctional Facility, see doc. 1 at 12, has filed this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 case apparently alleging that he is innocent of unspecified criminal charges in 2016. See id. at 4-5. He also alleges that “[o]n Jan. 16, 2023[, he] was stabbed eleven times while false [sic] imprisoned.”1 Id. at 5. However, the apparent focus of his claims is the “false imprisonment,” presumably by some agency of the Defendant. See id. (seeking damages calculated

1 Although it is not clear from Lewis’ Complaint, the Court infers that he was stabbed at Wheeler Correctional Facility, where he is incarcerated, or perhaps at an unspecified facility in Ware County. See doc. 1 at 2, 11. To the extent that he asserts some claim based on the alleged stabbing, the proper venue for such a claim would be either this Court’s Dublin Division, where Wheeler County is located, or Waycross Division, where Ware County is located. See 28 U.S.C. § 90(c)(2), (4). Since Lewis’ claim for relief appears limited to his “false imprisonment,” allegedly perpetrated by Defendant, the proper venue for a claim arising from that incident is irrelevant. “per year false imprisoned”). He failed to either pay the filing fee or move to proceed in forma pauperis. Doc. 2. Since it is clear that this Court is

not the proper venue for his claims, this case will be transferred. The issue of his filing fee will be resolved by the transferee court. Cf., White

v. Lemma, 947 F.3d 1373, 1378-79 (11th Cir. 2020) (failure to pay the required filing fee is not a jurisdictional defect). Ben Hill County, Georgia, the named defendant and—the Court

presumes—the location for the events leading to the alleged “false imprisonment,” lies in the Middle District of Georgia. See 28 U.S.C. § 90(b)(4). As Lewis’ allegations concern events that occurred exclusively

in another district, the proper forum for this case is the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. 28 U.S.C. §1391(b) (venue); 28 U.S.C. § 1406 (district courts may dismiss or transfer cases

suffering venue defects); see also, e.g., Collins v. Hagel, 2015 WL 5691076, at *1 (N.D. Ga. Sept. 28, 2015) (“A district court may raise the issue of defective venue sua sponte.”). Accordingly, the Clerk is DIRECTED to transfer this case to the Middle District of Georgia for all further proceedings. SO ORDERED, this 27th day of December, 2023. LIn~Z. CHRISTOPHER L. RAY UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA