Banks v. Kramer

CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedMarch 24, 2009
DocketCivil Action No. 2008-0215
StatusPublished

This text of Banks v. Kramer (Banks v. Kramer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Banks v. Kramer, (D.D.C. 2009).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA __________________________________________ ) SIMON BANKS, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Civil No. 08-215 (RCL) ) NOEL ANKETELL KRAMER, et al., ) ) Defendants. ) __________________________________________)

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Plaintiff Simon Banks is suing five individuals and five organizations. The individual

defendants are D.C. Court of Appeals Judges Noel Anketell Kramer (personal capacity), Annice

Wagner (personal capacity), and John Ferren (personal and official capacity), Clerk of the Court

of Appeals Garland Pinkston (personal and official capacity), and D.C. Attorney General Peter

Nickles (consistently misspelled throughout plaintiff’s Complaint as “Nickels”) (official

capacity). Sued as organizations are the D.C. Court of Appeals (“DCCA”), the D.C. Bar

Foundation (“DCBF”), the District of Columbia itself, the D.C. Office of Administrative

Hearings, and the nonprofit Council for Court Excellence (“CCE”).

The Court will attempt to give a factual background, although plaintiff’s Complaint does

not exactly make clear which facts are relevant. Plaintiff is a graduate of Howard University

School of Law. Plaintiff is not now and has never been admitted to the bar of the District of

Columbia (or apparently of any state). Plaintiff asserts that he was certified by the District of

Columbia “as Administrative Law Judge and Hearing Administrator” in 1981. (Compl. ¶16.)

1 Plaintiff also asserts that “[p]eriodically, from 1987 through 2002,” he “practiced administrative

law” before various federal and D.C. administrative agencies. (Compl. ¶18.) Plaintiff’s

Complaint then launches into a variety of allegations that defendants limited his ability to work

as an administrative law judge, limited his ability to practice in front of administrative agencies

or market his services, defamed him, and otherwise harmed him through their actions.

At this time there are eleven motions pending in this case. Three of those motions—

defendants’ dispositive motions—are substantive motions whose resolution will help this

litigation move forward. The remaining eight motions—all filed by plaintiff—are marred by

scant legal support, noncompliance with simple local rules, and a general lack of clarity or

coherence. Nevertheless, the Court notes that it must construe plaintiff’s pro se filings liberally.

Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 106 (1976). The Court will dispose of plaintiff’s motions first

before moving on to defendants’ dispositive motions.

A. Plaintiff’s Motions [48] and [79] to Amend His Complaint Fail to Comply with Local Civil Rule 7(i) and Shall Be Denied.

Plaintiff’s Motion [48] seeks to amend his Amended Complaint to add additional charges

against defendant DCBF. The substance of the motion, however, also seems to request

reconsideration of the Court’s Order [38] denying plaintiff’s earlier Motion [32] to add additional

claims against DCBF. Regardless of whether plaintiff’s motion is construed as one for leave to

amend or one for reconsideration, it is deficient and shall be denied.

If plaintiff’s motion is considered as one for leave to amend, it shall be denied for the

same reason as plaintiff’s earlier Motion [32]. The Court denied plaintiff’s Motion [32] for

2 failure to comply with Local Civil Rule 7(i), which requires that “[a] motion for leave to file an

amended pleading shall be accompanied by an original of the proposed pleading as amended.”

Plaintiff’s Motion [32] was not accompanied by an original as amended; it included only a

supplement listing new claims against DCBF. Plaintiff’s current Motion [48] again includes only

a supplement. Because plaintiff again fails to comply with Local Rule 7(i), his motion for leave

to amend cannot be granted.

Alternatively, if Motion [48] is construed as one for reconsideration of Order [38], it fails

to establish mistake, intervening change of law, or any other ground for reconsideration.

Plaintiff’s only reason for reconsideration is his assertion that the Clerk of Court’s office

discarded his hand-filed original complaint as amended without entering it into the Court’s

electronic docket. Plaintiff’s supporting unsworn declaration notwithstanding, his allegation

loses credibility for two reasons. First, plaintiff’s Motion [32] was filed electronically.1 There is

no reason why plaintiff would have hand-filed his original complaint as amended as an

attachment to an electronically filed motion. Also, plaintiff’s electronically filed Motion [32]

was accompanied (electronically) by independently titled document intended “to Supplement the

Amended Complaint.” This document does not read as if it was intended to accompany an

original complaint as amended; it reads as if it was intended to be filed alone. Because plaintiff

has not established any ground for reconsideration of the Court’s Order [38], his motion [48] will

be denied.

1 The CM/ECF (electronic docket) entry recording plaintiff’s motion ends with “(SIMON BANKS).” This indicates that plaintiff, Simon Banks, filed his motion electronically. Had his motion been filed in paper form, the parentheses would contain the initials of the individual within the clerk’s office who docketed plaintiff’s filing.

3 Plaintiff’s Motion [79], which also seeks to amend his Complaint to add claims against

DCBF, improves upon Motion [48] in that it is clearly a motion for leave to amend. However,

plaintiff again fails to comply with Local Rule 7(i), attaching a list of supplementary claims

against DCBF rather than a copy of the original complaint as amended. The Court shall deny

Motion [79] for failure to comply with the rule.

B. Plaintiff’s Motion [58] for Reconsideration Fails to Establish Grounds for Reconsideration and Shall Be Denied.

Plaintiff’s Motion [58] requests reconsideration of the Court’s Order [38] denying his

Motion [34] to amend his Complaint as to defendant Mukasey. The Court’s Order [38] denied

plaintiff’s Motion [34] for failure to comply with—again—Local Civil Rule 7(i), which (for the

third time) requires the movant to attach a copy of the original complaint as amended. Plaintiff’s

Motion [58], like his Motion [48], accuses the Clerk of Court’s office of discarding his original

complaint as amended. But, again, Motion [34] (like Motion [48]) was filed electronically (and

included several electronically filed attachments); thus plaintiff’s accusation lacks credibility.

Because plaintiff has established no grounds for reconsideration, his Motion [58] shall be denied.

C. D.C. Defendants’ Filings Will Not Be Stricken, and the Office of Attorney General Will Not Be Precluded From Representing District Defendants.

Plaintiff moves [36] to “strike all pleadings” filed by the D.C. Office of Attorney General

(“OAG”) on behalf of defendant Judges Kramer, Wagner, and Ferren. Plaintiff asserts that OAG

should be prohibited from defending the judges, Attorney General Nickles, and the District of

Columbia itself because of various “conflicts of interest.” Plaintiff’s Motion [36] has no basis in

4 law and shall be denied.

First, plaintiff asserts that OAG cannot represent both the District of Columbia and

individuals sued in their individual capacity for alleged violations of D.C. law. To support his

position, plaintiff cites to and quotes from cases, rules, and regulations apparently unrelated to

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Related

Estelle v. Gamble
429 U.S. 97 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Forrester v. White
484 U.S. 219 (Supreme Court, 1988)
Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife
504 U.S. 555 (Supreme Court, 1992)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Charles Kowal v. MCI Communications Corporation
16 F.3d 1271 (D.C. Circuit, 1994)
The Honorable Bob Barr v. William Jefferson Clinton
370 F.3d 1196 (D.C. Circuit, 2004)
In Re Banks
805 A.2d 990 (District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 2002)
In Re Banks
561 A.2d 158 (District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 1989)
United States v. Baroid Corp.
346 F. Supp. 2d 138 (District of Columbia, 2004)

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Bluebook (online)
Banks v. Kramer, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/banks-v-kramer-dcd-2009.