Taken Alive v. United States of America

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
BEAUMONT DIVISION
RALPH EMERON TAKEN ALIVE, II 	§
VS. 	§ 	CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:24cv506
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 	§
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
Ralph Emeron Taken Alive, II, an inmate confined within the Bureau of Prisons, filed this
lawsuit pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”).
Analysis
Title 28 U.S.C. § 1402(b) provides that claims under the FTCA may be prosecuted only in
the judicial district where the plaintiff resides or where the act or omission complained of occurred.
Plaintiff complains of events that occurred while he was incarcerated at the United States Medical
Center Federal Prison in Springfield, Missouri. 	At the time he filed his lawsuit, plaintiff was
incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary in Beaumont, Texas. However, a prisoner does not
change his residence by virtue of being incarcerated in a particular prison. Moler v. Wells, 18 F.4th
162, 166 (5th Cir. 2021). Instead, an incarcerated person resides in the district where he was legally
domiciled before his incarceration. Id. A Declaration provided to the court by the defendant states
that before his incarceration, plaintiff’s legal residence was Bull Head, South Dakota (doc. no. 20-1
at 2). 	As plaintiff does not reside in the Eastern District of Texas, and the act or omission
complained of did not occur here, venue is not proper in this court.
When a case is filed in the wrong division, the court “shall dismiss, or if it be in the interests
of justice, transfer such case to any district or division in which it could have been brought.” 28
U.S.C. § 1406(a). The court is of the opinion this matter should be transferred to the judicial district
where the act or omission complained of occurred. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 105(b)(5), that district
is the Southern Division of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
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ORDER
For the reasons set forth above, it is ORDERED that this matter is transferred to the
Southern Division of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
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_________________________
Zack Hawthorn
United States Magistrate Judge
SIGNED this 1st day of January, 2026.
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