Patel v. U.S. Bureau of Prisons

ORDER

This case consolidates Case No. 2:05-CV-00191-BD, which was transferred to this District from the Northern District of Texas, and Case No. 4:06-CV-00510, which was transferred to this District from the District of Columbia. At the time of the consolidation, Plaintiff was an inmate at FCI-Forrest City, in Forrest City, Arkansas. Plaintiff has since been transferred to the Federal Medical Center at the Butner Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina ("FMC Butner") (191 Case #31).

According to Plaintiff's complaint, the acts and omissions complained of arose in Texas. Plaintiff claims that all of the transfer decisions were made by Bureau of Prisons Officials at the South Central Regional Office in Dallas, Texas. Plaintiff's complaint details his transfer, over the course of more than 6 years, to various facilities in Texas and Oklahoma, and his transfer to one in Forrest City, Arkansas.

The Court finds that the interests of justice would best be served by transferring this consolidated case to the Eastern District of North Carolina, Western Division, under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) where there will be greater access to the Plaintiff's medical records and treating physicians, and where the Court can appoint local counsel and hold a local trial. Venue is proper in the Eastern District of North Carolina under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(e) as the Plaintiff currently resides there.

The Clerk of the Court is directed to immediately TRANSFER PLAINTIFF'S ENTIRE CONSOLIDATED CASE FILE to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Western Division, 310 New Bern Avenue, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27601. Plaintiff's court-appointed attorney is ordered to continue in the case until substitute counsel is appointed in the Eastern District of North Carolina.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

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