Basile v. The Los Angeles Film School, LLC

District Court, D. Nevada·Decided October 21, 2024·No. 2:24-cv-00108·Unknown

Opinion

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 3 CONSTANTINO BASILE, Case No.: 2:24-cv-00108-APG-MDC

4 Plaintiff Order Granting Defendants Southwest Airlines Co.; Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp 5 v. LLP; and Thorndal Armstrong Delk Balkenbush & Eisinger’s Motions to Have 6 Plaintiff Considered a Vexatious Litigant SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT, 7 INC, et al., [ECF Nos. 26, 32, 60]

8 Defendants

10 Plaintiff Constantino Basile filed a 228-page complaint alleging 10 causes of action 11 against 45 defendants, including Southwest Airlines Co.1; Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP 12 (MSK); and Thorndal Armstrong Delk Balkenbush & Eisinger (TADBE) (collectively, “the 13 moving defendants”). ECF No. 1. These defendants move to have Basile considered a vexatious 14 litigant because, including this case, he has filed seven nearly identical “harassing and 15 duplicative lawsuits” alleging the same “implausible theories,” “meritless claims,” and facts. 16 ECF Nos. 26 at 15; 32 at 22; 60 at 16. They also note that in Basile’s sixth suit filed in the U.S. 17 District Court for the Central District of California, Judge Cormac Carney declared Basile a 18 vexatious litigant for these reasons. See Basile v. Los Angeles Film Sch., LLC, No. 2:18-cv- 19 08604 CJC (ADS), 2019 WL 5310187, at *1 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 17, 2019), aff’d, 827 F. App’x 649 20 (9th Cir. 2020). Basile objects, arguing that the moving defendants “provide no grounds.” ECF 21 No. 62 at 4 (emphasis omitted). I grant the moving defendants’ motions. 22

1 Southwest filed one motion seeking to dismiss and to declare Basile a vexatious litigant. ECF 23 No. 26. Under Local Rule IC 2-2(b), Southwest should have filed separate documents for each event. 1 I. BACKGROUND 2 Including the current case, Basile has filed seven pro se actions in federal court since 3 2014. Basile v. Los Angeles Film Sch., LLC, No. 2:18-08604 CJC (ADS), 2019 WL 5377126, at 4 *1 (C.D. Cal. Sept. 30, 2019), report and recommendation adopted, No. 2:18-cv-08604 CJC 5 (ADS), 2019 WL 5310187 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 17, 2019), aff’d, 827 F. App’x 649 (9th Cir. 2020).

6 His claims arise from an alleged copyright infringement of two class assignments he created in 7 film school and a subsequent, related conspiracy to harm him and his family. Id. The alleged co- 8 conspirators include notable figures and entities such as Will Smith, former First Lady Michelle 9 Obama, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the 10 moving defendants. ECF No. 1. Besides alleging that the moving defendants have conspired to 11 steal his copyrighted work and profit from it, Basile also alleges that he has been kidnapped, 12 drugged, involuntarily hospitalized, and threatened as part of the conspiracy. Id. at 14-68; Basile, 13 2019 WL 5377126, at *1. With each successive suit, Basile has reargued his original claims 14 while adding increasingly attenuated co-conspirators and conspiratorial events. Basile, 2019 WL

15 5377126, at *1. 16 In October 2018, Basile filed his sixth suit in the Central District of California against 36 17 individuals and organizations, including the moving defendants. Basile, 2:18-cv-08604-CJC- 18 ADS, ECF No. 1 at 1-2, 43-46; see also Basile v. Los Angeles Film Sch., LLC, 827 F. App’x 649, 19 650 (9th Cir. 2020). He alleged “ten (10) causes of action for violations of the Racketeer 20 Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (“RICO”) Act, civil rights violations under 42 U.S.C. 21 §§ 1983, 1985, 1986, and 1988, copyright infringement, contributory copyright infringement, 22 defamation, recklessness, IIED, and conspiracy.” Basile, 2019 WL 5377126, at *3 (internal 23 footnote omitted). This sixth suit “conflate[d] the [p]rior [five] [c]ases into one action . . . 1 seek[ing] to relitigate them.” Id. Upon recommendation by Magistrate Judge Autumn Spaeth, 2 Judge Carney ruled Basile’s claims as “barred by res judicata, collateral estoppel, basic pleading 3 principles, litigation privilege, and frivolousness.” Basile, 2019 WL 5310187, at *1. He 4 dismissed the case with prejudice and declared Basile a vexatious litigant. Id. The Ninth Circuit 5 affirmed the decision. Basile, 827 F. App’x at 652.

6 II. DISCUSSION 7 A district court has the “inherent power to enter pre-filing orders against vexatious 8 litigants.” Molski v. Evergreen Dynasty Corp., 500 F.3d 1047, 1057 (9th Cir. 2007) (citing 28 9 U.S.C. § 165l(a)). Because a pre-filing order implicates a litigant’s due process right of access to 10 the courts, a court should enter such an extreme remedy “only after a cautious review of the 11 pertinent circumstances.” Id. “Nevertheless, flagrant abuse of the judicial process cannot be 12 tolerated because it enables one person to preempt the use of judicial time that properly could be 13 used to consider the meritorious claims of other litigants.” Id. (simplified). 14 Before I can enter a pre-filing order, I must examine four factors. First, the litigant must

15 have been “given notice and a chance to be heard before the order is entered.” Id. I may satisfy 16 “the requirement of providing an opportunity to be heard by written submission rather than an 17 oral or evidentiary hearing.” Windsor v. Boushie, 677 F. App’x 311, 311-12 (9th Cir. 2017). 18 Second, I must “compile an adequate record for review.” Molski, 500 F.3d at 1057 (quotation 19 omitted). “An adequate record for review should include a listing of all the cases and motions” 20 leading me to “conclude that a vexatious litigant order was needed.” Id. at 1059 (quotation 21 omitted). Third, I “must make substantive findings about the frivolous or harassing nature of the 22 plaintiff’s litigation.” Id. at 1057. To determine whether the litigant’s conduct is frivolous or 23 harassing, I must evaluate “both the number and content of the filings as indicia of the 1 frivolousness of the litigant’s claims.” Id. at 1059 (quotations omitted). The “ultimate 2 substantive issue in resolving a motion for a pre-filing order [is] whether a litigant who has a 3 history of vexatious litigation is likely to continue to abuse the judicial process and harass other 4 parties.” Id. at 1058 (quotation omitted). “Finally, the vexatious litigant order must be narrowly 5 tailored to closely fit the specific vice encountered.” Id. at 1057 (simplified). A pre-filing order

6 is overbroad if it prevents the litigant from filing any suit in the district court or applies to a suit 7 against anyone when the record showed the plaintiff was litigious with respect to only one group 8 of defendants. Id. at 1061. 9 Basile meets the standard to be considered a vexatious litigant. Basile was given the 10 notice of and opportunity to file briefs in opposition to the moving defendants’ motions, and he 11 did so. Basile’s record of filing multiple duplicative suits supports finding him a vexatious 12 litigant. Since 2014, Basile has filed seven different suits, including this one, all arising out of 13 the same alleged copyright infringement and related conspiracy. Basile brought three suits 14 against one or more of the moving defendants, and all suits feature at least one defendant that

15 Basile has sued multiple times:2 16 1. Basile v. L.A. Film Sch., LLC, Case No. 2:14-cv-00412-DMG-MRW, 2014 WL 17 12577083, ECF No. 1 at 1-9 (C.D. Cal. April 24, 2014), aff’d, Basile v. LA Film School, 18 LLC, 678 F. App’x 596 (9th Cir. 2017). 19 2. Basile v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., Case No. 2:14-cv-04263-DMG-JPR, 2014 20 WL 12521340, ECF No. 1 at 1-19 (C.D. Cal. Aug. 19, 2014), aff’d, Basile v. Twentieth 21 Century Fox Film Corp., 678 F. App’x. 576 (9th Cir. 2017).

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