Human Rights Defense Center v. United States Department of Justice

District Court, W.D. Washington·Decided August 9, 2024·No. 2:20-cv-00674·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT AT SEATTLE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENSE CENTER, CASE NO. 2:20-cv-00674-JHC

Plaintiff, ORDER v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE et al.,

Defendants.

I This matter comes before the Court on Defendants’ Motion to Alter or Amend Judgment under Rule 59(e) or for Relief from the Judgment under Rule 60(b)(6). See Dkt. # 67. Defendants United States Department of Justice and its law enforcement component the Drug Enforcement Administration (collectively, Defendants or the DEA) ask the Court to amend its judgment. See Dkt. # 64. Plaintiff Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC) opposes the motion. Dkt. # 69. Being fully advised, for the reasons below, the Court DENIES the motion. II BACKGROUND On May 20, 2019, HRDC submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, seeking disclosure of records of “all litigation against the [DEA] and/or its employees or agents where the [DEA] and/or its insurers paid $1,000 or more to resolve claims.” Dkt # 25-2 at 2. HRDC requested records of “settlements, damages, attorney fee awards, and sanctions, irrespective of the identity of the plaintiff or claimant.” Id. After the DEA denied HRDC’s request and the Department of Justice Office of Information Policy denied HRDC’s administrative appeal, see Dkt. ## 25-6; 25-6, HRDC filed this action. Dkt. # 1. On July 8, 2022, Defendants moved for summary judgment. Dkt. # 24. On August 26, 2022, Plaintiff cross-moved for summary judgment. Dkt. # 26. The Court granted in part and denied in part the motions, denying portions of Defendants’ and Plaintiff’s motions without prejudice. Dkt. # 33 at 1–2, 32–34. In that order, among other conclusions, the Court determined that the DEA incorrectly withheld the identities of alleged “tortfeasors/wrongdoers” (collectively, tortfeasors), see id. at 16–19, because “[b]alancing the tortfeasors’ nontrivial privacy interests against the significant interests favoring disclosure . . . revealing the DEA employee alleged tortfeasors’ names would not constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” Id. at 19. Defendants then moved to stay this portion of the Court’s order. Dkt. # 42. The Court granted the motion, implementing a stay of the disclosure of the names of the tortfeasors that would remain “in effect through the conclusion of any appeal or until the deadline to file a notice of appeal lapses[.]” Dkt. # 47. The parties then cross-moved for summary judgment for a second time. See Dkt. ## 53, 55, 57, 59. After supplemental briefing and in camera review of certain files, see Dkt. ## 60, 61, the Court granted in part and denied in part the motions, and entered judgment. Dkt. ## 63, 64.

The DEA now moves to amend or alter the judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e) or Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(6), contending that the Court misapplied the law in its first order on summary judgment, see Dkt. # 33, and that the Court should amend its judgment to “relieve [the] DEA of the requirement to identify its employees who are named ‘tortfeasors.’” Dkt. # 67 at 3. HRDC opposes. Dkt. # 69. III LEGAL STANDARDS A. Rule 59(e): Altering or Amending a Judgment Under Rule 59(e), a party may move to alter or amend a judgment no later than 28 days after the entry of the judgment. Fed. R. Civ. P 59(e). This rule provides for an “extraordinary remedy” that should be “used sparingly in the interests of finality and conservation of judicial resources.” Kona Enterprises, Inc. v. Est. of Bishop, 229 F.3d 877, 890 (9th Cir. 2000) (quoting 12 James William Moore et al., Moore’s Federal Practice § 59.30[4] (3d ed. 2000)). In general, there are four basic grounds upon which a Rule 59(e) motion may be granted: (1) if such motion is necessary to correct manifest errors of law or fact upon which the judgment rests; (2) if such motion is necessary to present newly discovered or previously unavailable evidence; (3) if such motion is necessary to prevent manifest injustice; or (4) if the amendment is justified by an intervening change in controlling law. Allstate Ins. Co. v. Herron, 634 F.3d 1101, 1111 (9th Cir. 2011) (citing McDowell v. Calderon, 197 F.3d 1253, 1255 n.1 (9th Cir.1999) (en banc) (per curiam) (emphasis added)). “Since specific grounds for a motion to amend or alter are not listed in the rule, the district court enjoys considerable discretion in granting or denying the motion.” McDowell, 197 F.3d at 1255 n.1. Even so, a Rule 59(e) motion may not be used to raise arguments or present evidence for the first time when they could reasonably have been raised earlier in the litigation. See Kona, 229 F.3d at 890. The Ninth Circuit has cautioned that motions under Rule 59(e) “should not be granted,

absent highly unusual circumstances,” and only when “the district court is presented with newly discovered evidence, committed clear error, or if there is an intervening change in the controlling law.” Id. (quoting 389 Orange St. Partners v. Arnold, 179 F.3d 656, 665 (9th Cir. 1999)). B. Rule 60(b)(6): Relief from Judgment or Order Rule 60(b) provides various grounds for relief from a final judgment, including relief from “mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect[,]” “newly discovered evidence[,]” “fraud[,]” or when the judgment is “void” or “has been satisfied, released, or discharged[.]” Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(1)–(5). Under Rule 60(b)(6), the Court may “relieve a party . . . from a final judgment . . . for any other reason that justifies relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(6). A “movant

seeking relief under Rule 60(b)(6) must show ‘extraordinary circumstances justifying the reopening of a final judgment.’” Hall v. Haws, 861 F.3d 977, 987 (9th Cir. 2017) (quoting Gonzalez v. Crosby, 545 U.S. 524, 535 (2005)). Rule 60(b)(6) should be “used sparingly as an equitable remedy to prevent manifest injustice.” United States v. Alpine Land & Reservoir Co., 984 F.2d 1047, 1049 (9th Cir. 1993). “[T]he decision to grant Rule 60(b)(6) relief is a case-by-case inquiry that requires the trial court to intensively balance numerous factors, including the competing policies of the finality of judgments and the incessant command of the court's conscience that justice be done in light of all the facts.” Hall, 861 F.3d at 987 (quoting Phelps v. Alameida, 569 F.3d 1120, 1133 (9th Cir. 2009)). “Rule 60(b)(6) is a grand reservoir of equitable power, and it affords courts the

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