Fulani v. Brady

149 F.R.D. 501, 79 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2369, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8619, 1993 WL 237700
District Court, S.D. New York·Decided June 24, 1993·No. No. 92 Civ. 0998 (RWS)·Published·Cited by 37 cases

Opinion

OPINION

SWEET, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Lenora B. Fulani and Lenora B. Fulani for President (collectively, “Fulani”) have moved pursuant to Rule 3(j) of the Civil Rules of the Southern District of New York (“Local Rule 3(j)”) for an order granting reargument of this Court’s Opinion and Order dated January 5, 1993, Fulani v. Brady, 809 F.Supp. 1112 (S.D.N.Y.1993) (the “Opinion”), and the Order dated January 29, 1993, and upon reargument vacating that part of the Orders and the Judgment dated February 1, 1993 (the “Judgment”), which dismissed Fulani’s Amended Complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction; and pursuant to Rules 59(e) and 60, Fed.R.Civ.P., for an order amending the Judgement so as to grant Fulani a declaratory judgment on Count One of the Amended Complaint. For the reasons set forth below, Fulani’s motion is denied.

The Parties

Plaintiff Lenora B. Fulani is characterized as a national political leader with a core constituency of African-American citizens. ■She is the chairperson of the New Alliance party and was the first woman and the first African-American to be on the ballot in each of the fifty states. Plaintiff Lenora B. Fulani for President is the political organization that ran Fulani’s 1992 presidential campaign.

Defendant Nicholas F. Brady was the Secretary of the Treasury, and Defendant Shirley D. Peterson was the Commissioner of Internal Revenue at the time of the events alleged in Fulani’s Amended Complaint (the “Federal Defendants”).

[503]*503Defendant League of Women Voters (the “League”) is a private, not-for-profit charitable trust established by the League of Women Voters of the United States in the District of Columbia in 1957 and devoted exclusively to educational purposes.1

Prior Proceedings and Facts

The underlying facts, the claims at issue, and the prior proceedings in this action are described in detail in the Opinion and need not be restated here. See 809 F.Supp. at 1113-16. The present motion was filed on February 8,1993. Oral argument was heard on March 17, 1993, and the motion was considered submitted as of that date.

Discussion

I. Fulani’s Motion For Reargument Is Denied

A. The Legal Standards Of Local Rule SG)

The standards controlling a motion for reargument pursuant to Local Rule 3(j) and a motion to amend the judgment pursuant to Rule 59(e), Fed.R.Civ.P., are the same. See Morser v. AT & T Information Sys., 715 F.Supp. 516, 517 (S.D.N.Y.1989); Lotze v. Hoke, 654 F.Supp. 605, 607 (E.D.N.Y.1987).

Local Rule 3(j) provides in pertinent part: There shall be served with the notice of motion a memorandum setting forth concisely the matters or controlling decisions which counsel believes the court has overlooked.

Thus, to be entitled to reargument under Local Rule 3(j), the Plaintiffs must demonstrate that the Court overlooked controlling decisions or factual matters that were put before the Court on the underlying motion. See East Coast Novelty Co. v. City of New York, 141 F.R.D. 245, 245 (S.D.N.Y.1992); B.N.E. Swedbank, S.A. v. Banker, 791 F.Supp. 1002, 1008 (S.D.N.Y.1992); Novak v. National Broadcasting Co., 760 F.Supp. 47, 48 (S.D.N.Y.1991); Ashley Meadows Farm Inc. v. American Horse Shows Ass’n, 624 F.Supp. 856, 857 (S.D.N.Y.1985).

Local Rule 3(j) is to be narrowly construed and strictly applied so as to avoid repetitive' arguments on issues that have been considered fully by the court. See Caleb & Co. v. E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co., 624 F.Supp. 747, 748 (S.D.N.Y.1985). In deciding a Local Rule 3(j) motion, the court must not allow a party to use the motion to reargue as a substitute for appealing from a final judgment. See Morser, 715 F.Supp. at 517; Korwek v. Hunt, 649 F.Supp. 1547, 1548 (S.D.N.Y.1986).

Finally, a Local Rule 3(j) motion must be served within ten days after the docketing of the courts’s determination of the original motion.

B. Fulani Has Failed To Satisfy The Requirements Of Local Rule 3G)

In the first instance, Fulani’s Local Rule 3(j) motion is untimely. The Opinion was dated and filed on January 5, 1993. Fulani’s motion was filed on February 8, 1993, well beyond the ten-day time limit set forth in Rule 59(e) and, as such, it is untimely. However, notwithstanding this untimeliness, which, in itself, constitutes a sufficient ground to deny Fulani’s motion, a review of the record on this motion reveals it to be without merit.

Fulani has identified neither controlling authority nor factual matters that were overlooked by this Court in granting the Defendants’ Rule 12(b) motion in the Opinion. The authorities cited by Fulani in support of this motion were discussed by both sides on the previous motion, and, as Fulani acknowledges here, were expressly considered by the Court in the Opinion.

Rather than identifying overlooked authorities or facts, Fulani invites this Court to reverse itself on two grounds: first, Fulani asserts that the Court “overlooked or misapprehended the jurisprudence of equitable remedies in constitutional litigation, as distinct from the ancient principles underlying an action at law seeking a writ of mandamus,” Pis.’ Mem. at 2; second, Fulani con[504]*504tends that the Court may enter injunctive relief that is less intrusive than ordering the Federal Defendants to revoke the League’s tax exemption. Neither of these grounds warrants vacating the Judgment dismissing Fulani’s Amended Complaint.

1. This Court Cannot Grant The Requested Mandamas Relief Of Revoking The League’s Tax Exemption

Fulani has failed to demonstrate that this Court overlooked any controlling or even relevant authority in arriving at the conclusion in the Opinion that the relief sought in the Amended Complaint is inappropriate because it would require the Court to direct the absolute discretion of the Federal Defendants. See 809 F.Supp. at 1127. Cf. Jolles Found., Inc. v. Moysey, 250 F.2d 166,169 (2d Cir.1957) (upholding the dismissal of a claim for declaratory relief on the ground that compelling the district director of the Internal Revenue Service to reverse his position would operate as a mandamus beyond the original jurisdiction of the district court).

2. Fulani’s Proposed “Less Intrusive” In-junctive Relief Constitutes Mandamus And Is Beyond The Jurisdiction Of This Court

Fulani asserts that, even if she were deemed not to be entitled to an injunction ordering the Federal Defendants to revoke the League’s tax-exempt status, this Court should order the Federal Defendants “to take measures reasonably calculated to remedy and prevent the recurrence of the conduct by the League____” Pis.’ Mem. at 9. Again, Fulani identifies no new authorities or material facts to support this contention that serve to supplement or expand the record previously before the Court on the Defendants’ Rule 12(b) motion.

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Fulani v. Brady, 149 F.R.D. 501, 79 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 2369, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8619, 1993 WL 237700 (S.D.N.Y. 1993).

149 F.R.D. 501 (Fulani v. Brady) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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