Young v. Pheiffer

Filing 14

ORDER DENYING Motion for Reconsideration 13 , signed by Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on 1/5/2017. (Hellings, J)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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HOWARD YOUNG,
Petitioner,

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v.
C. PFEIFFER, Warden,
Respondent.

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Case No.: 1:16-cv-01276-JLT (HC)
ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR
RECONSIDERATION
[Doc. No. 13]

Pending before the Court is Petitioner’s motion for reconsideration. Because there are no
grounds for reconsideration, the motion will be DENIED.
DISCUSSION
Petitioner filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus on August 29, 2016. Following a

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preliminary review of the petition, the Court determined that Petitioner failed to file a complete habeas

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petition. Therefore, on September 14, 2016, the Court issued an order directing Petitioner to submit a

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First Amended Petition. Petitioner filed a First Amended Petition on November 3, 2016. The Court

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screened the First Amended Petition and determined that it too failed to state a federal claim for relief.

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Therefore, on November 15, 2015, the Court dismissed the First Amended Petition and directed

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Petitioner to file a Second Amended Petition. On December 8, 2016, Petitioner filed a Second

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Amended Petition. The Second Amended Petition suffered from the same deficiencies identified in

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the prior petitions and, noting that Petitioner had multiple opportunities to submit a petition setting
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forth cognizable claims and because the claims as presented made clear Petitioner could not state a

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viable claim for relief, the Second Amended Petition was dismissed without leave to amend. On

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January 3, 2017, Petitioner filed the instant motion for reconsideration.

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Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) governs the reconsideration of final orders of the district

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court. Rule 60(b) permits a district court to relieve a party from a final order or judgment on grounds

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of: “(1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; (2) newly discovered evidence . . .; (3)

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fraud . . . of an adverse party; (4) the judgment is void; (5) the judgment has been satisfied . . . or (6)

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any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b). A

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motion under Rule 60(b) must be made within a reasonable time, in any event “not more than one year

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after the judgment, order, or proceeding was entered or taken.” Id.
When filing a motion for reconsideration, Local Rule 230(j) requires a party to show the “new

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or different facts or circumstances claimed to exist which did not exist or were not shown upon such

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prior motion, or what other grounds exist for the motion.” Motions to reconsider are committed to the

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discretion of the trial court. Combs v. Nick Garin Trucking, 825 F.2d 437, 441 (D.C.Cir. 1987);

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Rodgers v. Watt, 722 F.2d 456, 460 (9th Cir. 1983) (en banc). To succeed, a party must set forth facts

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or law of a strongly convincing nature to induce the court to reverse its prior decision. See, e.g., Kern-

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Tulare Water Dist. v. City of Bakersfield, 634 F.Supp. 656, 665 (E.D.Cal. 1986), aff’d in part and

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rev’d in part on other grounds, 828 F.2d 514 (9th Cir. 1987).

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Petitioner has failed to satisfy any of the requirements for granting a motion for

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reconsideration: He has not shown “mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect;” he has not

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shown the existence of newly discovered evidence or fraud; he has not established that the judgment is

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either void or satisfied; and, finally, he has not presented any other reasons justifying relief from

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judgment. In addition, pursuant to the Court’s Local Rules, Petitioner has not shown “new or different

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facts or circumstances claimed to exist which did not exist or were not shown upon such prior motion,

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or what other grounds exist for the motion.” Local Rule 230(j).

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Rather, Petitioner asks for an opportunity to file a Third Amended Petition in order to include

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additional case law citations. In the order dismissing the Second Amended Petition, the Court noted

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that Petitioner has had multiple opportunities to present a viable claim for relief but failed to do so. In
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addition, all of Petitioner’s claims were either foreclosed by the Supreme Court’s decision in

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Swarthout v. Cooke, 562 U.S. 216 (2011), or were not cognizable because they challenged the

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conditions of confinement. None of the claims presented could be cured with additional case law

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citations.

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In sum, Petitioner has provided no evidence or circumstances that would satisfy the
requirements of Rule 60(b), and therefore his motion for reconsideration must be denied.
ORDER

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Accordingly, it is the Court ORDERS that Petitioner’s motion for reconsideration (Doc. 13), is
DENIED.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

January 5, 2017

/s/ Jennifer L. Thurston
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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