Phelps-Roper v. Nixon et al

Filing 354

ORDER denying 345 plaintiff's motion for relief from judgment. Signed on 12/8/14 by District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan, Jr. (Enss, Rhonda)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
CENTRAL DIVISION
SHIRLEY PHELPS-ROPER,
Plaintiff,

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v.
CHRIS KOSTER, et al.,
Defendants.

No. 06-4156-CV-C-FJG

ORDER
Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s Motion for Relief from Judgment (Doc. No.
345). Plaintiff requests, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b), that the Court vacate its order
of March 10, 2014, which granted the state defendants’ motion for summary judgment on
the due process claim in Count XIV related to R.S.Mo. §§ 573.502 and 573.503, and
modify the judgment so that Count XIV is dismissed with prejudice as moot. Plaintiff
requests this relief because on August 28, 2014, before plaintiff was able to appeal the
merits of the adverse decision on Count XIV, R.S.Mo. §§ 573.502 and 573.502 were
repealed.
In response, the state defendants argue that reopening the judgment in this case
to dismiss Count XIV would serve no purpose, and moreover, plaintiff has already filed a
notice of appeal related to this claim.

Upon consideration, the Court agrees with

defendant that the Eighth Circuit is capable of determining whether plaintiff’s claim is
moot, and treating it accordingly in any resulting opinion. Therefore, plaintiff’s motion
(Doc. No. 345) is DENIED.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Date: December 8, 2014
Kansas City, Missouri

S/ FERNANDO J. GAITAN, JR.
Fernando J. Gaitan, Jr.
United States District Judge