Ritter v. Ritter
Filing
UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 8:07-cv-01060-AW Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [998427221] [07-1452, 07-1595, 07-1611, 07-1712]
Ritter v. Ritter
Doc. 0
Case: 07-1452 Document: 121
Date Filed: 09/17/2010
Page: 1
UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 07-1452 E. KERFOOT RITTER, JR., Plaintiff - Appellee, v. MARTHA RITTER, Defendant - Appellant.
No. 07-1595 MARTHA RITTER, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. E. KERFOOT RITTER, JR.; THE EUGENE KERFOOT RITTER TRUST, Defendants - Appellees.
No. 07-1611 E. KERFOOT RITTER, JR., Plaintiff - Appellee, v.
Dockets.Justia.com
Case: 07-1452 Document: 121
Date Filed: 09/17/2010
Page: 2
MARTHA RITTER, Defendant - Appellant.
No. 07-1712 MARTHA RITTER, Plaintiff - Appellant, v. THE EUGENE KERFOOT RITTER TRUST; F. Trustee; LUCILLE RITTER, Co-Trustee ARNOLD LERMAN; E. KERFOOT RITTER, JR., Defendants - Appellees. GILBERT HARMAN, Co(deceased 1/28/04);
Appeals from the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, at Greenbelt. Alexander Williams, Jr., District Judge; Roger W. Titus, District Judge; Peter J. Messitte, Senior District Judge. (8:07-cv-01060-AW; 8:06-cv-02665-RWT; 8:07-cv00539-PJM) Submitted: August 30, 2010 Decided: September 17, 2010
Before WILKINSON, NIEMEYER, and MOTZ, Circuit Judges. No. 07-1452 dismissed; No. 07-1595 affirmed as modified; No. 071611 vacated; No. 07-1712 affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Martha Ritter, Appellant Pro Se. Alan Stuart Feld, BULMAN, DUNIE, BURKE & FELD, CHTD, Bethesda, Maryland, for Appellees. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. 2
Case: 07-1452 Document: 121
Date Filed: 09/17/2010
Page: 3
PER CURIAM: Martha Ritter filed three notices of removal in the
district court.
In two of the removal notices, she removed a
state court action (the 1996 action) that she initiated in 1996 in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland. In the
third removal notice, she removed a second state court action (the 1993 action) originally filed in the Circuit Court for
Montgomery County.
The second action commenced in 1993 when
Martha's brother, Kerfoot, filed a complaint for an emergency restraining order against Martha. * The district court remanded
the removed actions to the state court. Martha now appeals from four orders entered by the district court. been consolidated. The appeals have
Nos. 07-1452; 07-1611 In No. 07-1452, Martha appeals the district court's orders remanding the 1993 action, which she had removed, to the state court and denying her Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(e) motion for
reconsideration.
The court's remand order was based in part on
the court's determination that the complaint did not "sustain federal jurisdiction under any jurisdictional theory." The state court docket number assigned to the 1993 actions was 110498. The docket number assigned to the 1996 action was 153962. 3
*
Case: 07-1452 Document: 121
Date Filed: 09/17/2010
Page: 4
Subject to an exception not applicable here, remand orders are generally "not reviewable on appeal or otherwise." 28
U.S.C. § 1447(d) (2006).
Because "§ 1447(d) must be read in
pari materia with § 1447(c), . . . only remands based on grounds specified in § 1447(c) are immune from review under § 1447(d)." Things Remembered, Inc. v. Petrarca, 516 U.S. 124, 127 (1995). "A remand order based on a lack of subject matter jurisdiction, whether sua sponte or not, falls within the scope of § 1447(c), and is therefore not reviewable by a court of appeals."
Ellenburg v. Spartan Motors Chassis, Inc., 519 F.3d 192, 196 (4th Cir. 2008). Because the district court's sua sponte remand
was based in part on lack of subject matter jurisdiction, we dismiss No. 07-1452. In addition to its orders remanding the removed action and denying Rule 59(e) relief, the district court entered an order imposing a prefiling injunction. from this order. In its order, the district court erroneously stated that Martha had removed the 1996 action on three occasions. In fact, In No. 07-1611, Martha appeals
Martha removed that action twice and removed the 1993 action once. In light of this factual error, we conclude that the
district court abused its discretion in issuing the prefiling injunction, and we vacate the district court's order.
4
Case: 07-1452 Document: 121
Date Filed: 09/17/2010
Page: 5
No. 07-1595 This appeal involves Martha's removal of the 1996 action. The district court sua sponte remanded the matter to state court because "the right of removal is not accorded to a plaintiff." Martha filed a Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(e) motion for reconsideration, which the district court denied. She now appeals the orders
remanding the case and denying her Rule 59(e) motion. We have jurisdiction to review the propriety of the district court's remand on procedural grounds because the court did not grant a motion to remand, but instead issued its order sua sponte. "[E]very appellate court has a special obligation to
satisfy itself not only of its own jurisdiction, but also that of the courts in a cause under review." Bender v. Williamsport
Area Sch. Dist., 475 U.S. 534, 541 (1986) (internal quotation marks omitted). "`[I]f the record discloses that the lower
court was without jurisdiction [the appellate] court will notice the defect.'" Id. (quoting United States v. Corrick, 298 U.S.
435, 440 (1936)). Questions of subject matter jurisdiction may be raised sua sponte by the court. Id. If the appellate court
concludes that the district court was without subject matter jurisdiction, the action must be dismissed. Interstate
Petroleum Corp. v. Morgan, 249 F.3d 215, 219 (4th Cir. 2001). The district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the removed action. That action presented no federal question. 5
Case: 07-1452 Document: 121
Date Filed: 09/17/2010
Page: 6
Further,
complete
diversity
was
lacking.
In
the
notice
of
removal, Martha identified herself as the Plaintiff and Kerfoot and the Eugene Kerfoot Ritter Trust as the Defendants. Two
Trustees of the Trust identified by Martha in the removal notice were citizens of Maryland. Therefore, complete diversity was
lacking, for Martha also is a Maryland citizen. We accordingly affirm as modified. The district court's
order of remand is modified to reflect that the remand is based on want of subject matter jurisdiction.
No. 07-1712 The notice of removal in this case pertained to the 1996 action. court Kerfoot filed a motion for remand, which the district granted upon the determination that Martha was "the
Plaintiff in the underlying state court action."
In its order,
the court also granted Kerfoot's motion for attorney's fees, awarding him $500. for Martha filed a Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b) motion which the district court denied. She
reconsideration,
appeals the district court's denial of that motion.
We conclude
that Martha did not establish entitlement to relief under Rule 60(b), and that the district court accordingly did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion. 116 F.3d 91, 94 (4th Cir. 1997). See Heyman v. M.L. Mktg. Co., We therefore affirm.
6
Case: 07-1452 Document: 121
Date Filed: 09/17/2010
Page: 7
Conclusion We dismiss No. 07-1452, affirm No. 07-1595 as modified, vacate the order in No. 07-1611, and affirm No. 07-1712. motions dispense for sanctions oral and reconsideration because the are denied. and The We legal
with
argument
facts
contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
No. 07-1452 DISMISSED No. 07-1595 AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED No. 07-1611 VACATED No. 07-1712 AFFIRMED
7
Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.
Why Is My Information Online?