Baker v. Baker

Filing 57

MEMORANDUM signed by Chief Judge Kevin H. Sharp on 4/14/2017. (DOCKET TEXT SUMMARY ONLY-ATTORNEYS MUST OPEN THE PDF AND READ THE ORDER.)(hb)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
NASHVILLE DIVISION
KENNETH D. BAKER,
Petitioner,
v.
BRIANNE M. BAKER,
Respondent.

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No. 3:16-cv-1445
Judge Sharp

MEMORANDUM
Pending before the Court is Petitioner’s Motion to Alter or Amend (Docket Entry No. 54).
For the reasons set forth below, the Petitioner’s motion will be granted in part and denied in part.
BACKGROUND
Petitioner brought this claim pursuant to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspect of
International Child Abduction and the implementing legislation in the United States, the
International Child Abduction Remedies Act, set forth in 42 U.S.C. § 11601, et seq., requesting
the Court enter an Order directing that the parties’ minor children be returned to Germany.
Petitioner alleged that Respondent unlawfully removed the children has wrongfully retained
them in the United States.
The Court held a bench trial in this matter on September 14-15, 2016 and October 13,
2016, after which the parties were instructed to file post-trial briefs. Those briefs were filed on
November 21, 2016. The Court found that Respondent had established by a preponderance of
the evidence that Petitioner gave his consent for Respondent to return to the United States with
the minor child. The Court denied the Verified Petition, and the children were not ordered to be
returned to Germany. See (Docket Entry Nos. 51 and 52).

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ANALYSIS
“A motion to alter or amend judgment under Rule 59(e) may be granted if there is ‘(1) a
clear error of law; (2) newly discovered evidence; (3) an intervening change in controlling law;
or (4) a need to prevent manifest injustice.’” Intera Corp. v. Henderson, 428 F.3d 605, 620 (6th
Cir. 2005) (quoting GenCorp, Inc. v. Am. Int'l Underwriters, 178 F.3d 804, 834 (6th Cir. 1999)).
“Rule 59(e) allows for reconsideration; it does not permit parties to effectively ‘re-argue a
case.’” Howard v. United States, 533 F.3d 472, 475 (6th Cir. 2008) (quoting Sault Ste. Marie
Tribe v. Engler, 146 F.3d 367, 374 (6th Cir. 1998)). “[T]he purpose of Rule 59(e) is to allow the
district court to correct its own errors, sparing the parties and appellate courts the burden of
unnecessary appellate proceedings.” Howard v. United States, 533 F.3d 472, 475 (6th Cir. 2008).
Petitioner purports that there are inconsistencies between the proof in the record and the
Court’s finding “that Respondent met her burden of proof in regard to the consent defense, which
ultimately served to defeat Mr. Baker’s Petition for return of the children.” (Docket Entry No.
54 at 1). The Court has thoroughly reviewed the Petitioner’s motion, and Petitioner makes
absolutely no mention of an intervening change in law or the availability of new evidence,
leading the Court to conclude that Petitioner seeks amendment or alteration to remedy a
perceived error of law. The Court has already exhaustively considered and rejected Petitioner’s
contention regarding Respondent’s consent defense, and Petitioner has presented no persuasive
authority that would lead the Court to alter its decision. The Sixth Circuit has repeatedly held
that a Rule 59(e) motion “may not be used to re-litigate issues previously considered” and
rejected by the Court. Am. Marietta Corp. v. Essroc Cement Corp., 59 Fed. App'x 668, 671 (6th
Cir. 2003). Petitioner fails to satisfy the Rule 59(e) standard and thus has given the Court no
reason to alter or amend the judgment.

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Petitioner also notes that on page 7 of the Court’s Opinion, the Petitioner and Respondent
references are incorrect – “For example, the Court’s decision states that the ‘Petitioner removed
the children’ from Germany and also that the ‘Petitioner flew with the children to the U.S.[,]’
when in fact the Respondent, Ms. Baker, did those things.” The proper channel for seeking relief
for a clerical error should be done through Rule 60 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,1 not
Rule 59(e). Nevertheless, the Court will grant the request and issue an Amended Findings of
Fact and Conclusions of Law to correct this clerical error.
CONCLUSION
For all of the reasons stated, the Court will grant in part and deny in part Petitioner’s
Motion to Alter or Amend (Docket Entry No. 54). The motion will be granted with respect to the
clerical error and denied as to the remaining relief sought.
An appropriate Order shall be entered.

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KEVIN H. SHARP
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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The Sixth Circuit has held that the purpose of a Rule 60(a) motion is to correct errors of a clerical nature,
not of a substantive one. “The basic purpose of the rule is to authorize the court to correct errors that are
mechanical in nature that arise from oversight or omission.” In re Walter, 282 F.3d 434, 440 (6th Cir.
2002) quoting 11 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2854, at 240 (2d ed. 1995).
“The rule does not, however, authorize the court to revisit its legal analysis or otherwise correct an ‘error
[ ] of substantive judgment.’” Id. “In that regard, when a court has undertaken to ‘make the judgment or
record speak the truth’ rather than ‘something other than what was originally pronounced the court has
not abused its discretion in granting relief under Rule 60(a).” Id, at 441. (Citations omitted).
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