IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS BEAUMONT DIVISION MAXWELL C. EZENWA §

VS. § CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:24-CV-108 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ET AL. § MEMORANDUM OPINION REGARDING TRANSFER Plaintiff Maxwell C. Ezenwa, a federal inmate, proceeding pro se, filed this civil rights action pursuant to Bivens v. Six Unknown Agents of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics,

(1971), against the United States of America, Sheryl Fryer, and Channel 13. Plaintiff alleges the defendants violated his constitutional rights in connection with Plaintiff’s prosecution in the Houston Division

of the Southern District of Texas. Plaintiff also invokes the court’s diversity jurisdiction over his state law claims. Discussion When jurisdiction is not founded solely on diversity of citizenship,

(b) provides that venue is proper in the judicial district where the defendants reside or in which the claim arose. Venue is not proper in the Eastern District of Texas, because Plaintiff alleges that the claims arose in Harris County, Texas. Under

(a), the district court may transfer a civil action to any other district where it could have been brought for the convenience of parties and

witnesses and in the interest of justice. Such a transfer may be done sua sponte and is reviewable only for an abuse of discretion. Mills v. Beech Aircraft Corp.,

(5th Cir. 1989). The court has considered the circumstances and has determined that justice would be served by transferring this action to the district where the claims arose. Therefore, it is the opinion of the undersigned that this case should be transferred to the Houston Division of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. It is accordingly ORDERED that this civil rights action is TRANSFERRED to the Houston Division of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. SIGNED this the Ist day of April, 2024.

Christine L Stetson UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE