UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN

SOUTHERN DIVISION

DAVID P. FLICK,

Plaintiff,

v. Case No. 09-CV-12037

 HONORABLE STEPHEN J. MURPHY, III

SEETHE VADLAMUDI, M.D., et. al.,

Defendants,

 /

OPINION AND ORDER 

TRANSFERRING PLAINTIFF’S CIVIL RIGHTS 

COMPLAINT TO THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN

Plaintiff David P. Flick, a Michigan state inmate, currently confined at the Kinross

Correctional Facility in Kincheloe, Michigan, filed a civil rights complaint pursuant to 42

U.S.C. § 1983. In his pro se complaint, plaintiff claims that his constitutional rights were

violated – that he was denied medical care – by defendants while he was incarcerated at

the following Correctional Facilities: (1) the Chippewa and Kinross Correctional Facilities

located in Kincheloe, Michigan, (2) the Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility located in Ionia,

Michigan, and (3) the Mound Correctional Facility located in Detroit, Michigan. For the

reasons stated below, the Court will transfer this matter to the Western District of Michigan

for further proceedings.

DISCUSSION

Ten persons are named as defendants in this case. The majority of the actions

complained of by plaintiff took place at the Correctional Facilities in either Kincheloe or

Ionia, Michigan, which are respectively located in the Northern and Southern Divisions of

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the Western District of Michigan. One complained-of action occurred at the Mound

Correctional Facility in Detroit, Michigan, which is located in the Southern Division of the

Eastern District of Michigan. Plaintiff is also currently incarcerated at the Kinross Facility,

which is in the Northern Division of the Western District. Nine of those named defendants

reside in the Western District; the other, Dr. Seetha Vadlamudi, resides in the Eastern

District.

Venue is in the judicial district where either all defendants reside or where the claim

arose. Al-Muhaymin v. Jones, 895 F.2d 1147, 1148 (6th Cir. 1990); 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b).

“For the convenience of 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.”

28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). In deciding whether to transfer a case, “a district court should

consider the private interests of the parties, including their convenience and the

convenience of potential witnesses, as well as other public-interest concerns, such as

systemic integrity and fairness, which come under the rubric of ‘interests of justice.’” Moses

v. Business Card Express, Inc., 929 F. 2d 1131, 1137 (6th Cir. 1991) (citing Stewart Org.,

Inc. v. Ricoh Corp., 487 U.S. 22 (1988)).

Against that backdrop, the Court concludes that for the convenience of the parties

and witnesses, as well as in the interest of justice, the present matter must be transferred

to the Western District of Michigan. The primary factor in making the determination to

transfer venue is that almost all of the “operative facts” in this case relate to activity that

took place at either the Kinross or Bellamy Creek Correctional Facilities, which are located

in the Western District of Michigan. Furthermore, plaintiff is currently incarcerated in the

Western District of Michigan and all but one of the defendants reside in that district. In

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cases in which a plaintiff’s claims may require testimony or files that can be most easily

obtained at or near the plaintiff’s place of incarceration, “the district in which the institution

is located will ordinarily be the more convenient forum.” Additionally, virtually all of the

witnesses and files necessary to prosecute plaintiff’s claims are located in the Western

District of Michigan and the burden of transporting the plaintiff to this judicial district–the

Eastern District–would be significant. This also favors transfer. See Joyner v. District of

Columbia, 267 F.Supp.2d 15, 20-21 (D.D.C. 2003) (quoting Starnes v. McGuire, 512 F.2d

918, 931 (D.C. Cir. 1974)). For those reasons, and as the Court perceives no unfairness

or impairment of the integrity of the judicial system that would result, transfer of this action

to the Western District is proper.

ORDER

Accordingly, the Court ORDERS the Clerk of the Court to transfer this case to the

United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §

1404(a).

s/Stephen J. Murphy, III 

STEPHEN J. MURPHY, III

United States District Judge

Dated: July 13, 2009

I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was served upon the parties and/or

counsel of record on July 13, 2009, by electronic and/or ordinary mail.

s/Alissa Greer 

Case Manager

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