Berry v. Livingston

FILED
AUG 29 2011
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
Clerk, U.S. District & Bankruptcy
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COUTts tor the DistrIct ot ColumbIa
Odis Odell Berry, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. )
)
Civil Action No.
11 155;;
Brad Livingston et aI., )
)
Defendants. )
MEMORANDUM OPINION
This matter is before the Court on review of plaintiff s pro se complaint and application
to proceed in forma pauperis. The application will be granted and the complaint will be
dismissed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915A (requiring dismissal of a prisoner's complaint upon a
determination that the complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted).
Plaintiff is a Texas prisoner incarcerated in Rosharon, Texas. He has submitted a form
complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, against numerous defendants in Texas, including prison
officials. See CompI. at 4 & attached list. Plaintiff accuses the defendants of torture, id. at 5, but
he has stated no facts to support such a claim. See Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 555 U.S. 544,
555 (2007) (a plaintiffs "[f]actual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the
speculative level .... ") (citations omitted). Even if plaintiff had stated a plausible claim, this
judicial district is not the proper venue for litigating claims against Texas defendants for alleged
misdeeds that occurred in Texas. See 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b) (designating the proper venue under
the circumstances presented as the judicial district "where any defendant resides" or where a
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substantial part of the events occurred). Given the paucity of the complaint, the Court will
dismiss it for failure to state a claim. A separate Order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.
Date: August !~, 2011
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