Cedric Greene v. Angeles-Ipa

United States Court of Appeals
For the Seventh Circuit
Chicago, Illinois 60604
Submitted March 21, 2025*
Decided March 24, 2025
Before
MICHAEL B. BRENNAN, Circuit Judge
DORIS L. PRYOR, Circuit Judge
NANCY L. MALDONADO, Circuit Judge
No. 24-2880
CEDRIC GREENE,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
ANGELES-IPA,
Defendant-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District
Court for the Northern District of
Illinois, Eastern Division.
No. 24 C 10263
Lindsay C. Jenkins,
Judge.
O R D E R
Cedric Greene appeals from a judgment dismissing his complaint for improper
venue and lack of personal jurisdiction. We affirm.
Greene, a California resident, sought to transfer his case against Angeles-IPA, a
California-based medical corporation, from Nevada state court to the Northern District
* The defendant-appellee was not served with process and is not participating in this appeal. We
have agreed to decide the case without oral argument because the brief and record adequately present the
facts and legal arguments, and oral argument would not significantly aid the court. FED . R. APP. P.
34(a)(2)(C).
NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION
To be cited only in accordance with FED. R. A PP. P. 32.1

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No. 24-2880 Page 2
of Illinois. The district court screened the complaint, see 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e), and
dismissed it as legally frivolous because venue was improper and personal jurisdiction
was lacking.
On appeal, Greene challenges the characterization of his filing as frivolous. In his
view, the restrictions placed upon him by the Nevada state court prevented him from
pursuing his claims against Angeles-IPA, necessitating that his case be heard in the
Northern District of Illinois in accordance with the federal transfer statute. See 28 U.S.C.
§ 1404(a). The federal transfer statute, however, governs the transfer of cases within the
federal system to a more convenient venue for the parties and witnesses, in the interest
of justice. Id.; Mueller v. Apple Leisure Corp., 880 F.3d 890, 894 (7th Cir. 2018). Greene’s
filing in the Northern District was not a request to transfer venue from one federal court
to another; his case originated in state court. Moreover, the complaint was legally
frivolous. A complaint is legally frivolous if it is based on an “indisputably meritless
legal theory,” Felton v. City of Chicago, 827 F.3d 632, 635 (7th Cir. 2016) (quoting Neitzke
v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 327–28 (1989)), and Greene did not assert a single legal theory
for relief, let alone raise any factual allegations, against Angeles-IPA.
We close with an observation. The district court should not have granted Greene
leave to appeal in forma pauperis. When, as here, a district court decides that a suit is
frivolous under § 1915(e), it should not authorize an appeal to proceed in forma
pauperis. See Lee v. Clinton, 209 F.3d 1025, 1026–27 (7th Cir. 2000). We therefore
REVOKE the court’s order permitting Greene to take this appeal in forma pauperis.
AFFIRMED

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