Yasmani Gurri Rubio v. City of Alexandria, Virginia, et al.

QUESTION 1 Whether the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment is violated when a federal district court dismisses an action with prejudice for improper venue under Rule 12(b)(3), without first establishing proper divisional venue as required by 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b), as modified by E.D. Va. Loe. Civ. R. 7(J), and after acknowledging that all operative facts occurred in a different division of the Eastern District of Virginia. QUESTION 2 Whether a federal judge acts ultra vires—and therefore outside the scope ofjudicial immunity—by simultaneously disclaiming jurisdiction over a case while issuing a final merits ruling, in contravention of the jurisdiction-first principle mandated by Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment, 523 U.S. 83 (1998), and despite the statutory command under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a) to either transfer or dismiss without prejudice when venue is improper. QUESTION 3 Whether a district court may dismiss a case with prejudice under Rule 12(b)(3) for improper venue, notwithstanding 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a)’s requirement that cases filed in the wrong district or division “shall” be either dismissed without prejudice or transferred “in the interest of justice” to a division or district in which the action could have been brought, as applied in MultiscaffLtd. v. APTIM Fed. Servs., LLC, 2023 WL 6541846 (E.D. Va. 2023), and Woodv. Barnett, Inc., 648 F. Supp. 936 (E.D. Va. 1986).