Nordstrom v. Ryan et al

Filing 112

ORDER that Mr. Garza's motion to reconsider 111 is denied. Signed by Senior Judge David G Campbell on 5/30/2019. (REK)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

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Scott Douglas Nordstrom,
Plaintiff,

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ORDER

v.

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CV15-02176-PHX-DGC

Charles L. Ryan, Director of the Arizona
Department of Corrections; James O’Neil
Warden, ASPC Eyman; and Staci Fay,
Deputy Warden, Browning Unit,

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Defendants.

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Before the Court is death-sentenced inmate Ruben Garza Jr.’s motion to reconsider

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the Court’s ruling on his third-party motion to enforce a settlement agreement between

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Plaintiff Scott Nordstrom and Defendants Arizona Department of Corrections (“ADOC”)

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and others. Doc. 111. For the reasons that follow, the Court will deny the motion.

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I.

Background.

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In October 2015, Plaintiff Nordstrom, a death-sentenced inmate in state custody,

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brought an action against Defendants for violations of the Eighth and Fourteenth

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Amendments related to death row conditions. Doc. 1. Having already planned to make

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death row inmates eligible for reclassification to close-custody housing, ADOC settled

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with Plaintiff on March 3, 2017 (“the Settlement”). Doc. 39. Based on this settlement, the

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Court dismissed Mr. Nordstrom’s action, incorporated the Settlement terms in its order,

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and retained jurisdiction to enforce the agreement. Doc. 45.

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In 2019, seven death-sentenced inmates, including Mr. Garza, filed motions to

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enforce the Settlement, asserting standing as third-party beneficiaries under Rule 71.

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Docs. 71, 75, 76, 80, 81, 85, 86. In a May 15, 2019 order, the Court found that the seven

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inmates lacked standing because they were not recognized as the Settlement’s primary

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parties in interest and were not privy to the promise of the Settlement. Doc. 110.

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II.

Legal Standard.

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Motions for reconsideration are disfavored and should be granted only in rare

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circumstances. See Stetter v. Blackpool, No. CV 09-1071-PHX-DGC, 2009 WL 3348522,

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at *1 (D. Ariz. Oct. 15, 2009). A motion for reconsideration will be denied “absent a

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showing of manifest error or a showing of new facts or legal authority that could not have

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been brought to [the Court’s] attention earlier with reasonable diligence.” LRCiv 7.2(g)(1);

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see Carroll v. Nakatani, 342 F.3d 934, 945 (9th Cir. 2003). Mere disagreement with an

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order is an insufficient basis for reconsideration. See Ross v. Arpaio, No. CV 05-4177-

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PHX-MHM, 2008 WL 1776502, at *2 (D. Ariz. 2008). Nor should reconsideration be used

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to ask the Court to rethink its analysis. Id.; see N.W. Acceptance Corp. v. Lynnwood Equip.,

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Inc., 841 F.2d 918, 925-26 (9th Cir. 1988).

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III.

Discussion.

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Garza asserts that the Settlement affected all death row inmates, not just Mr.

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Nordstrom and created a vehicle for all death-sentenced inmates to be reclassified to close

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custody. Doc. 111 at 6. Mr. Garza seems to argue that because all death-sentenced inmates

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benefitted from the Settlement, they should all have standing to enforce it. Id. at 7. He

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further argues that because the Settlement mentions all death-sentenced inmates as a group,

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they were the intended third-party beneficiaries. Id.

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Mr. Garza’s arguments are all addressed by the Court’s previous order. While the

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Settlement mentions all death-sentenced inmates as a group, the underlying case was only

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between Mr. Nordstrom and Defendants. As stressed in the previous order, Mr. Nordstrom

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never took steps to represent interests other than his own, and the Settlement was the result

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of an agreement between Mr. Nordstrom and ADOC only. Further, under Arizona law it

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is not enough that the inmates are affected by the Settlement or that it operates to their

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benefit. See Sherman v. First Am. Title Ins., 38 P.3d 1229, 1232 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2002).

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The death-sentenced inmates must be the intended, primary parties in interest, which they

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were not. Basurto v. Utah Const. & Mining Co., 485 P.2d 859, 863 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1971).

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Garza also argues that if the death-sentenced inmates do not have standing to

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enforce the Settlement, then Plaintiff Nordstrom would not have had standing to originally

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assert his claims. This clearly is incorrect. To assert standing in the underlying suit, Mr.

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Nordstrom needed to show that he suffered an injury and the injury could be redressed by

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the Court’s favorable opinion. See Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 561

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(1992). As a party to the underlying suit and the Settlement, Mr. Nordstrom’s continues

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to have standing to enforce the Settlement. Doc. 72 at 4-5. But as nonparties, Garza and

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the other death-sentenced inmates need third-party beneficiary status to have standing to

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enforce the Settlement. Sherman, P.3d at 1232. As discussed in the Court’s previous order,

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they do not.

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Garza also does not address the Court’s alternative ground for dismissing the death-

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sentenced inmates’ motions – that none of the inmates asserted claims are covered by the

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terms of the Settlement. Doc. 110 at 6-8. Specifically for Mr. Garza, the Court found that

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the Settlement does not address disciplinary procedures for death-sentenced inmates

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following reclassification. Id. at 7. Thus, even if the Court agreed that the inmates have

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standing, the May 2019 order would not change.

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IT IS ORDERED that Mr. Garza’s motion to reconsider (Doc. 111) is denied.

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Dated this 30th day of May, 2019.

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