Randazza et al v. Cox et al
Filing
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ORDER Denying 129 Plaintiffs' Motion to Declare Defendant Crystal Cox as a Vexatious Litigant. The Clerk of Court shall strike Cox's 130 Response and Plaintiffs' 131 and 147 Supplements. Signed by Magistrate Judge Peggy A. Leen on 10/7/2013. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - SLD)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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DISTRICT OF NEVADA
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MARC J. RANDAZZA, et al.,
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Plaintiffs,
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vs.
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CRYSTAL L. COX, et al.,
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Defendants. )
__________________________________________)
Case No. 2:12-cv-02040-JAD-PAL
ORDER
(Mtn to Declare Vex. Lit. - Dkt. #129)
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This matter is before the court on Plaintiffs Marc J. Randazza’s, Jennifer Randazza’s, and
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Natalia Randazza’s (“Plaintiffs”) Motion to have Defendant Crystal Cox Declared a Vexatious Litigant
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(Dkt. #129). The court has considered the Motion, Defendant Crystal Cox’s (“Cox”) Response (Dkt.
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#130), Plaintiff’s Reply (Dkt. #132). Plaintiffs also filed two Supplements (Dkt. ##131, 147) which are
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not authorized by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or the Local Rules of Practice.
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BACKGROUND
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This case arises out of the registration of no less than thirty-two internet domain names that
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incorporate all or part of Plaintiffs’ personal names by Defendants Crystal Cox and Eliot Bernstein
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(“Defendants”). Plaintiff Marc Randazza is the managing partner of Marc Randazza PA d/b/a
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Randazza Legal Group. Plaintiff Jennifer Randazza is Marc Randazza’s wife, and Natalia Randazza is
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the couple’s four-year-old daughter. Cox registered the domain names at issue in this case, some of
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which were listed under proxy Bernstein’s name. Defendants registered the domain names through
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godaddy.com and blogspot.com between December 10, 2011, and September 20, 2012.
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On November 28, 2012, Plaintiffs filed the Complaint (Dkt. #1), alleging claims for: (1)
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violation of individual cyberpiracy protections under 15 U.S.C. § 8131; (2) cybersquatting under 15
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U.S.C. § 1125(d); (3) right of publicity under NRS 597.810; (4) common law right of publicity; (5)
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common law right of intrusion upon seclusion; and (6) civil conspiracy. On January 11, 2013, the
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district judge entered an Order (Dkt. #41) granting Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Dkt.
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#2) and temporarily enjoined Defendants from registering, operating, or maintaining any website or
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domain name with Plaintiffs’ names or confusingly similar variation of their names. See Order (Dkt.
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#41) at 12:2-16. Additionally, six of the domain names at issue, which are subject to a decision by the
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World Intellectual Property Organization, were released to Marc Randazza’s full control by the
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registrar. See Order (Dkt. #41) at 12:17-22. The twenty-six remaining domain names at issue were
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ordered locked by the respective registrar and transferred to Plaintiffs. See Order (Dkt. #41) at 12:22-
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13:11.
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DISCUSSION
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Plaintiffs seek an order declaring Cox is a vexatious litigant based upon her conduct in this case
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and in filing other cases in multiple courts across the country. Additionally, Plaintiffs request the court
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require Cox to retain counsel before filing any additional filings in this or any other legal action.
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Plaintiff’s Response is 195 pages, with an additional fifty-eight pages of exhibits. As Cox has been
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previously advised, Local Rule of Civil Practice 7-4 limits responsive briefs to thirty pages unless the
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court permits a longer brief. Cox has not requested, and the court has not permitted, her to file a 195
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page response. Motions, responses, and replies should be plain and concise, and the court will only
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allow parties to file papers in excess of the page limitations of the Local Rules in relatively rare
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situations when the issues are so complex that excess pages are required to articulate the parties’
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positions. Cox’s Response will be stricken as non-compliant with Local Rule 7-4.
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Plaintiff have also unreasonably multiplied these proceedings by filing “supplements” which are
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not permitted. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules of Practice allow parties to
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file only a motion, a response, and a reply, without express prior leave of court. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 7;
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LR 7-2(a)-(c); Hill v. England, 2005 WL 3031136 at *1 (E.D. Cal. Nov. 8, 2005) (citing Federick v.
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Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, 366 F. Supp. 2d 1190, 1197 (N.D. Ga. 2005)). Supplemental filings are not
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authorized, and the court will direct the Clerk to strike the Supplements.
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The All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a), empowers federal district courts to enjoin vexatious
litigants who have a history of abusing the court’s limited resources. De Long v. Hennessey, 912 F.2d
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1144, 1147 (9th Cir. 1990) (citing Tripati v. Beaman, 878 F.2d 351, 352 (10th Cir. 1989)). Under the
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All Writs Act, a district court may order a person with lengthy histories of abusive litigation practices to
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obtain leave of the court before filing any future lawsuits. Molski v. Evergreen Dynasty Corp., 500
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F.3d 1047, 1057 (9th Cir. 2007).
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“Flagrant abuse of the judicial process cannot be tolerated because it enables one person to
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preempt the use of judicial time that properly could be used to consider the meritorious claims of other
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litigants.” Molski, 500 F.3d at 1057 (citing DeLong, 912 F.2d at 1148). However, the Ninth Circuit has
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cautioned that vexatious litigant orders are an extreme remedy and should rarely be entered. De Long,
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912 F.2d at 1148 (citing Wood v. Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce, Inc., 705 F. 2d 1515, 1523-26
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(9th Cir. 1984)). This is because such an order restricts access to the courts, that is, the litigant’s “final
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safeguard for vitally important constitutional rights.” Wood, 705 F.2d at 1525. “An injunction cannot
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issue merely upon a showing of litigiousness. The plaintiff’s claims must not only be numerous, but
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also be patently without merit.” Moy v. U.S., 906 F.2d 467, 470 (9th Cir. 1990) (citing In re Oliver, 682
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F.2d 443, 446 (3d Cir. 1982)).
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In deciding whether or not to restrict a litigant’s access to the courts, “[u]ltimately, the
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question the court must answer is whether a litigant who has a history of vexatious litigation is likely to
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continue to abuse the judicial process and harass other parties.” Molski, 500 F.3d at 1058 (quoting Safir
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v. United States Lines, Inc., 792 F.2d 19, 23 (2nd Cir. 1986)). In doing so, the court should examine
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five factors: (1) the litigant’s history of litigation and in particular whether it entailed vexatious,
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harassing, or duplicative lawsuits; (2) the litigant’s motive in pursuing the litigation, that is, whether the
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litigant has an objective good faith expectation of prevailing; (3) whether the litigant is represented by
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counsel; (4) whether the litigant has caused needless expense to other parties or has posed an
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unnecessary burden on the courts and their personnel; and (5) whether other sanctions would be
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adequate to protect the courts and other parties. Id. at 864.
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Plaintiffs’ motion lacks merit. Plaintiffs sued Cox. The court is mindful that a number of other
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courts have found Cox is a vexatious litigant who has engaged in abusive litigation practices. The court
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also fully appreciates the time and resources that have been devoted to addressing voluminous,
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rambling, and sometimes incoherent papers filed in this case. However, Cox did not initiate this action.
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The Motion does not cite a single case supporting the proposition that this court has the authority to
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enter a pre-filing vexatious litigant order precluding a defendant from filing further actions or papers in
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state or federal court. Rule 1 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires the court to administer
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the Rules to secure the “just, speedy, and inexpensive determination” of every action. Fed. R. Civ. P. 1.
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Filing frivolous requests that are unsupported by law and lengthy briefs which exceed what the rules
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permit unnecessarily multiplies these proceedings and wastes judicial resources and the resources of the
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parties. The court will not hesitate to exercise its authority to sanction either side for unreasonably
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burdening the court or causing needless expense in these proceedings.
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For the reasons stated,
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IT IS ORDERED:
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1.
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Plaintiffs’ Motion to Declare Defendant Crystal Cox a Vexatious Litigant (Dkt. #129) is
DENIED.
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The Clerk of Court shall STRIKE Cox’s Response (Dkt. #130) and Plaintiffs’
Supplements (Dkt. ##131, 147).
Dated this 7th day of October, 2013.
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_________________________________________
PEGGY A. LEEN
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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