Hamilton v. Thomson et al

Filing 123

ORDER by Judge Claudia Wilken DENYING PLAINTIFFS 122 MOTION TO ALTER OR AMEND THE JUDGMENT. (Attachments: # 1 Certificate/Proof of Service) (ndr, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 3/10/2014)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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BERNARD HAMILTON,

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v.

(Docket no. 122)

G. THOMSON, et al.,

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Defendants.
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United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S
MOTION TO ALTER OR AMEND THE
JUDGMENT

Plaintiff,

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No. C 09-0648 CW (PR)

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Plaintiff, a state prisoner incarcerated at San Quentin State

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Prison, filed this civil rights action alleging that Defendants

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violated his constitutional rights in conjunction with the denial

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of a laptop computer to monitor his oxygen intake.

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filed a motion for summary judgment.

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Court issued an Order Granting Defendants’ Motion for Summary

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Judgment and entered judgment in favor of Defendants.

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119, 120.

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reconsider or vacate that Order.

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motion to alter or amend the judgment under Federal Rule of Civil

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Procedure 59(e).

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motion is denied.

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Defendants

On February 7, 2014, this

Doc. nos.

On February 26, 2014, Plaintiff filed a motion to
The Court construes this as a

For the reasons discussed below, Plaintiff’s

A motion under Rule 59(e) "'should not be granted, absent
highly unusual circumstances, unless the district court is
presented with newly discovered evidence, committed clear error,
or if there is an intervening change in the law.’"

McDowell v.

Calderon, 197 F.3d 1253, 1255 (9th Cir. 1999) (citation omitted)

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(en banc).

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warranting reconsideration when the question before it is a

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debatable one.

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vehicle permitting the unsuccessful party to "rehash" arguments

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previously presented or to present "contentions which might have

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been raised prior to the challenged judgment."

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United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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A district court does not commit clear error

Id. at 1256.

A motion under Rule 59(e) is not a

Costello v. United

States, 765 F. Supp. 1003, 1009 (C.D. Cal. 1991).

These holdings

"reflect[] district courts' concerns for preserving dwindling
resources and promoting judicial efficiency."

Id.

In his motion, Plaintiff argues that the Court erred in
ruling that his contract claim was barred by collateral estoppel

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because, in the Court’s previous order reopening this case, doc.
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no. 122, it had rejected the collateral estoppel argument and
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accepted Plaintiff’s representation that his claims in this case
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were different from the claims in his previous case.
Plaintiff asserted this same argument in his opposition to
Defendants’ motion for summary judgment, and the Court addressed
it as follows:

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Plaintiff’s only argument against collateral estoppel is that
the Court rejected this argument when it granted his motion
to reopen this case because the Court stated that it relied
on Plaintiff’s argument that his claims in this case were
different from the claims addressed in Adamik. But, at that
time, the issue of collateral estoppel was not before the
Court. Therefore, the Court’s ruling in the Order granting
Plaintiff’s motion to reopen this case did not foreclose the
determination of whether the contract claim is barred by res
judicata or collateral estoppel.
Doc. no. 119 at 15.
Thus, Plaintiff is merely “rehashing” an argument he

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presented previously.

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the judgment is not the proper vehicle for relitigating previous

As stated above, a motion to alter or amend

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arguments.

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of new evidence nor an intervening change in the controlling law.

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Furthermore, Plaintiff neither alleges the discovery

Accordingly, Plaintiff’s motion to alter or amend the
judgment is denied.

This Order terminates docket number 122.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated: 3/10/2014

CLAUDIA WILKEN
United States District Judge

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United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

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