Rodriguez v. United States

13 Cl. Ct. 399, 1987 U.S. Claims LEXIS 186
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedOctober 19, 1987
DocketNo. 611-85C
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 13 Cl. Ct. 399 (Rodriguez v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rodriguez v. United States, 13 Cl. Ct. 399, 1987 U.S. Claims LEXIS 186 (cc 1987).

Opinion

ORDER

ROBINSON, Judge.

This case is before the court on plaintiff’s motion to transfer the case to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. For the reasons set forth below, plaintiff’s motion to transfer is denied. In addition, plaintiff’s complaint is dismissed.

Facts1

This action was originally filed by plaintiff, Angel Rodriguez, against the United States of America in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Plaintiff alleged the United States failed to properly maintain plaintiff’s vessel, the [400]*400M/Y Sea Grape, which was seized by the Customs Service in Key West, Florida, on July 1980 and which sank one week after seizure. The vessel was participating in the 1980 Mariel Boat Lift, transporting Cuban nationals from the port of Mariel, Cuba, to Key West, Florida. The government claims that its seizure of the vessel was authorized, in part because of Coast Guard regulation violations, and in part because the government had clearly prohibited further Mariel Boatlift trips after May 15,1980. Plaintiff maintains that he leased the boat to a Mr. Gabriel Fernandez for the purpose of a salvage operation, but that Mr. Fernandez was forced by the Cuban government to participate in the boat lift.

Plaintiff claimed jurisdiction in the District Court under the Suits in Admiralty Act (SIAA), 46 U.S.C. §§ 741-752 and the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2671-2680. The District Court denied defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction on November 28, 1984. However, the District Court on its own motion reconsidered defendant’s motion to dismiss in light of the Eleventh Circuit’s holding in Williams v. United States, 747 F.2d 700 (11th Cir.1984), which was announced on November 29, 1984. Upon reconsideration, the district court concluded that there was no cognizable admiralty or tort liability on the part of the United States. The court did decide that plaintiff may have a cause of action under the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1491. Thus, the court stated: “Although this matter is before the court on its own motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, the court concludes that it is in the interests of justice to transfer this action to a court with subject matter jurisdiction, the United States Claims Court, rather than to dismiss the action with prejudice.” Angel Rodriguez v. United States of America, No. 81-1360, Slip Op. at 4. After transfer of the case, plaintiff amended his complaint to conform with the Rules of the United States Claims Court. The government filed its answer and a counterclaim. The government has moved the court to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint on the grounds that the complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted and that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction. Plaintiff has not responded to defendant’s motion to dismiss. Rather, plaintiff has moved to amend his complaint and to have this court transfer this case back to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Discussion

Plaintiff moves pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1631 that this case be transferred back to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Section 1631 provides:

Whenever a civil action is filed in a court as defined in section 610 of this title or an appeal, including a petition for review of administrative action, is noticed for or filed with such a court and that court finds that there is a want of jurisdiction, the court shall, if it is in the interest of justice, transfer such action or appeal to any other such court in which the action or appeal could have been brought at the time it was filed or noticed, and the action or appeal shall proceed as it it had been filed in or noticed for the court to which it is transferred on the date upon which it was actually filed or noticed for the court from which it is transferred.

Thus, in order for this Court to transfer a case, three requirements must be met: (1) this Court must lack jurisdiction itself; (2) it must be in the interest of justice to transfer the claims; (3) the transferee court must be one in which the action could have been brought at the time the claims were filed. Town of North Bonneville, Washington v. United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, 732 F.2d 747 (9th Cir.1984).

Both parties agree that this Court lacks jurisdiction over plaintiff’s claim. Indeed, plaintiff concedes that “his action is not one sounding in contract pursuant to the Tucker Act, but rather is one in tort pursuant to the SIAA.” Plaintiff’s motion to amend complaint and for transfer at 7. Thus, this Court need only consider whether a transfer back to the District Court is in the interest of justice and whether the District Court is a court in which the action [401]*401could have been brought when it was filed. In the instant case, these two considerations are intertwined and will be discussed together.

This Court concludes that it is not in the interest of justice to transfer this case back to the District Court. Section 1631 requires that the transferee court be one in which the action could have been brought at the time the claims were filed. The District Court has already held that it lacks jurisdiction over plaintiffs claim for two reasons: 1) there is no cognizable admiralty or tort liability on the part of the United States, and 2) the Tucker Act claim exceeds $10,000, divesting the Court of concurrent jurisdiction under the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1491. Rodriguez v. U.S., Order No. 81-1360 (S.D.Fla. Sept. 5, 1985) [Available on WESTLAW, 1985 WL 9588]. The District Court’s finding that it lacked jurisdiction over plaintiff’s claim necessarily means that it is not a Court in which the action “could have been brought” for purposes of § 1631. See, U.S. v. Grimberg, 702 F.2d 1362, 1377 (Fed.Cir.1983). No amount of transferring will create jurisdiction where none existed previously. Berdick v. U.S., 222 Ct.Cl. 94, 612 F.2d 533, 536 (1979). Thus, the transfer of this case to the District Court would be contrary to the statute, and, therefore, would not be in the interest of justice.

Even assuming that the District Court is one in which the case “could have been brought,” this Court still declines to retransfer the case. A case should not be transferred to another court if it most probably would be a futile act. Little River Lumber Co. v. U.S., 7 Cl.Ct. 492 (1985); Dancy v. United States, 229 Ct.Cl. 300, 668 F.2d 1224 (1982).

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Related

Mitchell v. United States
44 Fed. Cl. 437 (Federal Claims, 1999)
National Medical Enterprises, Inc. v. United States
28 Fed. Cl. 540 (Federal Claims, 1993)
Angel Rodriguez v. The United States
862 F.2d 1558 (Federal Circuit, 1988)
McKinley v. United States
34 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,454 (Court of Claims, 1988)

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13 Cl. Ct. 399, 1987 U.S. Claims LEXIS 186, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rodriguez-v-united-states-cc-1987.