Unreported / Non-Citable
Background
Pro se plaintiff Robert Lamount Crossley, a state prisoner currently incarcerated at the California Institute for Men in Chino, filed a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil-rights complaint against five correctional officers alleging constitutional violations that occurred at Kern Valley State Prison in Delano, California, on November 24, 2025. The named officers — J. Flores, Garcia, K. Garcia, S. Lopez, and Diaz Garcia — were all alleged to be located at Kern Valley State Prison, which sits in Kern County and falls within the geographic boundaries of the Eastern District of California, not the Central District where Crossley filed his suit.
The Court’s Holding
Magistrate Judge Daniel S. Roberts issued an order to show cause why the case should not be transferred to the Eastern District of California. The court applied the federal venue statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b), which limits civil actions to (1) a district where any defendant resides if all defendants reside in the state, (2) a district where a substantial part of the events occurred, or (3) a district where any defendant is subject to personal jurisdiction if no other district works. Because all named defendants worked at — and the entire incident occurred at — Kern Valley State Prison in Kern County, none of the venue prongs supported filing in the Central District.
The court explained that under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a) and Ravelo Monegro v. Rosa, a federal court may transfer a complaint filed in the wrong venue to the proper district “in the interest of justice.” Crossley was given until January 20, 2026, to either consent to transfer or explain why venue is proper in the Central District. The court warned that failure to timely respond would result in transfer to the Eastern District, and provided a Notice of Dismissal form should Crossley wish to abandon the action.
Key Takeaways
- Federal civil suits must be filed in the proper venue under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b); for prisoner § 1983 suits, this is generally the district where the defendants work and where the alleged misconduct occurred.
- Kern Valley State Prison sits in Kern County, which is in the Eastern District of California; suits over events there generally do not belong in the Central District.
- When a case is filed in the wrong venue, federal courts may transfer it to the correct district in the interest of justice under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a) rather than dismiss it outright.
- Pro se plaintiffs whose suits are filed in the wrong venue should be prepared either to agree to transfer or to provide a substantive explanation of why venue is proper.
Why It Matters
This is a routine venue order, but it illustrates an important practical point for pro se prisoner plaintiffs and the lawyers who advise them: the location of an alleged constitutional violation governs venue. California’s prisons are spread across multiple federal districts; mistakenly filing in the wrong district will at best delay the case (with a transfer order) and at worst result in dismissal if the plaintiff fails to respond. Practitioners filing § 1983 suits over prison incidents should always verify the prison’s federal-district location before filing.