Jenson v. Huerta
Filing
9
MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER - IT IS ORDERED: 1. Petitioners Motion to Correct Misunderstandings (Dkt. 8 ) is DENIED. Signed by Judge B. Lynn Winmill. (caused to be mailed to non Registered Participants at the addresses listed on the Notice of Electronic Filing (NEF) by (cjs)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF IDAHO
TRACY JENSON,
Case No. 2:17-cv-00221-BLW
Plaintiff,
MEMORANDUM DECISION AND
ORDER
v.
MICHAEL HUERTA,
Defendant.
INTRODUCTION
Pending before the Court is Petitioner’s Motion to Correct Misunderstandings
(Dkt. 8). For the reasons stated below, the Court will deny the motion.
BACKGROUND
On May 25, 2017, the Clerk of the Court conditionally filed Petitioner Tracy
Jenson’s Petition for Writ of Mandamus (Dkt. 2). The Court reviewed the Petition
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915, and found that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction over
Petitioner’s claim. See Nov. 13, 2016 Memorandum Decision and Order, Dkt. 6. Thus,
the Court entered judgment denying the Petition and dismissing this action. Judgment,
Dkt. 7. Petitioner filed the instant Motion on December 11, 2017. See Motion, Dkt. 8. The
MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER - 1
Court will construe Petitioner’s Motion as one to alter or amend judgment under Rule
59(e) or for relief from final judgment under Rule 60(b). 1
LEGAL STANDARD
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59 is not intended to provide litigants with a
“second bite at the apple.” Weeks v. Bayer, 246 F.3d 1231, 1236 (9th Cir. 2001). Instead,
reconsideration of a final judgment under Rule 59(e) is an “extraordinary remedy, to be
used sparingly in the interests of finality and conservation of judicial resources.” Carroll
v. Nakatani, 342 F.3d 934, 945 (9th Cir. 2003). A losing party cannot use a postjudgment motion to reconsider as a means of litigating old matters or presenting
arguments that could have been raised before the entry of judgment. School Dist. No. 1J,
Multnomah County, Or. v. ACandS, Inc., 5 F.3d 1255, 1263 (9th Cir. 1993).
As a result, there are four limited grounds upon which a motion to alter or amend
judgment may be granted: (1) the motion is necessary to correct manifest errors of law or
fact; (2) the moving party presents newly discovered or previously unavailable evidence;
(3) the motion is necessary to prevent manifest injustice; or (4) there is an intervening
change in the law. Turner v. Burlington North. Santa Fe R.R. Co., 338 F.3d 1058, 1063
(9th Cir. 2003) (citation omitted).
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) provides that the Court may reconsider a
final judgment or order based on: “(1) mistake, surprise, or excusable neglect; (2) newly
1
Plaintiff’s Motion was filed exactly 28 days after the entry of judgment in this case, thus is
timely under Rule 59(e). Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(e).
MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER - 2
discovered evidence; (3) fraud; (4) a void judgment; (5) a satisfied or discharged
judgment; or (6) extraordinary circumstances which would justify relief.” School Dist.
No. 1J, Multnomah Cnty, Or., 5 F.3d at 1263. This Rule must be used sparingly as an
equitable remedy to prevent manifest injustice and is to be utilized only where
extraordinary circumstances prevented a party from taking timely action to prevent or
correct an erroneous judgment. See Lal v. California, 610 F.3d 518, 524 (9th Cir.
2010). The moving party bears the burden of providing the existence of fraud,
misconduct, or any other ground for relief. Atchison, T & S.F. Ry. Co. v. Barrett, 246
F.2d 846, 849 (9th Cir. 1957).
ANALYSIS
A motion to alter or amend, or for relief from judgment may be granted only in
limited circumstances. Petitioner has failed to establish that any of those circumstances
apply here. Rather, Petitioner’s motion seeks to clarify the Court’s understanding of the
factual allegations underlying his Petition. As such, much of the motion is taken up with
restating and re-alleging facts and legal conclusions previously raised in the initial
Petition. To the extent Petitioner alleges new facts, he fails to explain how they are either
newly discovered or were previously unavailable to him at the time he filed his Petition. 2
2
Although Plaintiff reiterates that the facts underlying his Petition are different from those
underlying previous, related actions, he does not allege that any facts presented in his motion were
undiscovered or unavailable at the time he filed the current action.
MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER - 3
Nor does Petitioner address the legal deficiencies identified by the Court in its
initial review. There, the Court found it lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the
Petition, because Petitioner failed to articulate either a clear and certain claim, or a
plainly prescribed nondiscretionary duty owed him. See Nov. 11, 207 Order, at 5, Dkt. 6;
Kildare v. Saenz, 325 F.3d 1078, 1084 (9th Cir. 2003) (finding that mandamus relief “is
an extraordinary remedy and is available to compel a federal official to perform a duty
only if: (1) the individual's claim is clear and certain; (2) the official's duty is
nondiscretionary, ministerial, and so plainly prescribed as to be free from doubt, and (3)
no other adequate remedy is available.”). To the extent Petitioner contends that the
Court’s conclusions are in error, he points to no legal authority supporting his claim.
Instead, he offers no more than his own alternative interpretation of the statutory and
regulatory framework upon which the Court based its earlier decision. Petitioner’s
disagreement with the Court’s analysis is not evidence that the Court’s decision was
reached in error, and does not justify reconsideration.
Further, the Court found that Petitioner could have availed himself of other
remedies. See Heckler v. Ringer, 466 U.S. 602, 616, (1984) (“The common law writ of
mandamus, as codified in 28 U.S.C. § 1361, is intended to provide a remedy for a
plaintiff only if he has exhausted all other avenues of relief. . . .”). Petitioner does not
address this issue, other than to reiterate that his Petition seeks redress for a different
claim from those underlying previous actions in this court and others. He fails to allege,
MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER - 4
however, that there was no other available or adequate proceeding through which to
pursue his claim. As such, the Court lacks jurisdiction over his petition for mandamus.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED:
1.
Petitioner’s Motion to Correct Misunderstandings (Dkt. 8) is DENIED.
DATED: April 30, 2018
_________________________
B. Lynn Winmill
Chief U.S. District Court Judge
MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER - 5
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