Joshua Garton v. W. Ray Crouch

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• Decided: July 29, 2024
• Docket: 23-6002
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 24a0332n.06

Case No. 23-6002

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED Jul 29, 2024 ) KELLY L. STEPHENS, Clerk JOSHUA GARTON, ) Plaintiff-Appellant, ) ) ON APPEAL FROM THE v. ) UNITED STATES DISTRICT ) COURT FOR THE MIDDLE W. RAY CROUCH, et al., ) DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE Defendants-Appellees. ) ) OPINION

Before: KETHLEDGE, THAPAR, and DAVIS, Circuit Judges.

DAVIS, Circuit Judge. Plaintiff-Appellant Joshua Garton was arrested, temporarily jailed,

and prosecuted for harassment under Tennessee law because he posted a photoshopped picture on

Facebook depicting two men desecrating the grave of a deceased police officer. After the charge

was dismissed, Garton sued several agents of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (“TBI”), a

local police department captain, the District Attorney General, and the city of Dickson, Tennessee,

for multiple civil rights violations pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The court granted dismissal to

six of the nine Defendants. Garton subsequently settled his claims with the remaining three

defendants and stipulated to their dismissal. Here, Garton appeals the district court’s grant of a

protective order that was entered before the parties’ settlement and voluntary dismissal. Because

we lack jurisdiction to consider his claim, we dismiss the appeal. No. 23-6002, Garton v. Crouch, et al.

I.

In January 2021, Garton posted a fake picture on Facebook depicting two individuals

urinating on the tombstone of a former Dickson Police Department Sergeant who was killed in the

line of duty. After identifying Garton as the individual responsible for the post, law enforcement

officers arrested, interrogated, and charged him with harassment. Following his arrest, he

remained incarcerated at the Dickson County Jail for almost two weeks while he awaited a

preliminary hearing. At the conclusion of the hearing, the charges against Garton were dismissed.

Garton sued District Attorney General W. Ray Crouch; several employees of the TBI,

including its Director, David Rausch, and agents Bradley Nealon, Russell Winkler, Joshua Melton,

Joseph Craig, and Andrew Vallee; the City of Dickson, Tennessee; and Donald Arnold of the

Dickson Police Department under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Tennessee law. Garton asserted claims

for malicious prosecution, false arrest, First Amendment retaliation, denial of equal protection,

civil conspiracy, and municipal liability for policies and practices that purportedly violate the First

Amendment. He sued Rausch and Crouch in both their individual and official capacities, while he

sued the remaining non-municipal defendants in their individual capacities only. Garton sought

monetary damages as well as injunctive and declaratory relief. Early in the litigation, the district

court dismissed all claims against the City of Dickson and five of the individual defendants—

including Garton’s official- and individual-capacity claims against Rausch—concluding that they

failed to state a claim on which relief could be granted. The court also dismissed Garton’s official-

capacity claims and accompanying requests for injunctive and declaratory relief against Crouch.

These early dismissals left only Garton’s individual-capacity claims against Crouch, Craig, and

Vallee for false arrest, malicious prosecution, First Amendment retaliation, and civil conspiracy.

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During discovery, Craig and Vallee moved for a protective order to limit public disclosure

of the TBI investigative case file relating to Garton’s arrest. After briefing and a full hearing on

the motion, the district court granted the motion and entered the requested protective order.

Subsequently, Garton moved for leave to file a second amended complaint, which he principally

sought to (1) add more factual allegations against Crouch and (2) enjoin Crouch and Rausch, in

their official capacities, from further investigating his meme posting. But while his motion to

amend remained pending, Garton settled his claims against Crouch, Craig and Vallee, and filed a

stipulation of dismissal with prejudice pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 21 as to all

three. The district court terminated the case based on the stipulation. A short time later, Garton

filed a notice explaining that his unadjudicated motion for leave to file a second amended

complaint precluded the court from closing the case. The district court issued an order

acknowledging Garton’s notice but concluding that Garton’s stipulated dismissal with prejudice

rendered moot any remaining motions, including his motion to file a second amended complaint.

Despite his skepticism about finality, Garton timely appealed, asking us to review the district

court’s earlier ruling granting a protective order for the TBI investigative files.1

II.

Before addressing Garton’s challenge to the district court’s entry of the protective order,

we must satisfy ourselves that this court has jurisdiction to review the appeal. The parties dispute

the finality of the district court’s judgment. They also disagree on whether the stipulation

dismissing the remaining Defendants and the Release of Liability (alternately, “the Release”)

1 After filing his notice of appeal, Garton reached a mediated settlement with previously-dismissed defendants, City of Dickson and Donald Arnold, leaving involuntary dismissals against only Rausch, Nealon, Winkler and Melton.

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disposing of the remaining claims moot Garton’s appeal of the protective order. We conclude that

the district court’s order amounted to a final judgment, but that Garton’s claim before us is moot.

A.

Finality. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, appellate courts may review “appeals from all final

decisions of the district courts.” “A final decision is one that ‘ends the litigation on the merits and

leaves nothing for the court to do but execute the judgment.’” Rowland v. S. Health Partners, Inc.,

4 F.4th 422, 425 (6th Cir. 2021) (quoting Catlin v. United States, 324 U.S. 229, 233 (1945)); see

also Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b). This means that rulings made by the district court earlier in litigation

may be appealed once such a litigation-ending decision has occurred. See Caudill v. Hollan, 431

F.3d 900, 904 (6th Cir. 2005) (quoting McLaurin v. Fischer, 768 F.2d 98, 101 (6th Cir. 1985))

(“An appeal of a final judgment draws into question all prior non-final rulings and orders.”).

Garton contends that because he filed his stipulation pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil

Procedure 21, rather than under Rule 41, his voluntary dismissal of claims against only three

defendants did not end the litigation. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 21; see also Fed. R. Civ. P.

41(a)(1)(A)(ii). True, because Rule 21 applies in cases where “a party improperly adds or omits

other parties in a lawsuit,” it is generally understood that “mistakes in this area are ‘not a ground

for dismissing an action.’” Kitchen v. Heyns, 802 F.3d 873, 874 (6th Cir. 2015) (quoting Fed. R.

Civ. P. 21).2 But here, Garton was not dismissing Crouch, Craig and Vallee because he had

improperly added them to the lawsuit. Moreover, they were the last three defendants in the case;

2 Notably, Garton’s stipulation did not neatly fit the procedures outlined in Rule 21. That rule permits court action based on a motion by a party or sua sponte in cases of misjoinder and nonjoinder. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 21. Garton neither filed a motion nor alleged misjoinder or nonjoinder in his stipulated order of dismissal. Rule 41, on the other hand, allows the court to dismiss an action at a party’s request “on terms that the court considers proper.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(2). Here, Garton’s stipulation did not seek only to drop parties, it sought to dismiss his causes of action against them with prejudice. Thus, while he framed his request as one brought pursuant to Rule 21, it would seem that the court was permitted by Rule 41(a)(2) to act on his request to dismiss on terms it considered proper.

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the court had dismissed with prejudice Garton’s claims against the other six defendants over a year

before his stipulated dismissal of these three. So, while dismissing parties under Rule 21 ordinarily

would not end an action, where dropping a party discharges all remaining defendants and claims

with prejudice, such dismissal would necessarily operate as a “final order” for purposes of

appellate review. Cf. In re Refrigerant Compressors Antitrust Litig., 731 F.3d 586, 589 (6th Cir.

2013) (“When a single action . . . involves multiple parties, a district court ruling that disposes of

only . . . some parties is ordinarily not ‘final.’”). Garton’s voluntary dismissal with prejudice—

albeit under Rule 21—of the only remaining claims and defendants in this case left the district

court with nothing to review. As such, the entry of the stipulation ended the litigation, and the

court’s order rejecting Garton’s notice constituted a final decision from which appeal could be

taken.

B.

Mootness. Craig and Vallee assert that we are nonetheless constrained from reviewing the

district court’s earlier protective order ruling due to mootness. We agree.

Mootness is a jurisdictional question we review de novo. In re Flint Water Cases, 63 F.4th

486, 497 (6th Cir. 2023). “Article III of the Constitution grants the Judicial Branch authority to

adjudicate ‘Cases’ and ‘Controversies.’” Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc., 568 U.S. 85, 90 (2013); U.S.

Const. art. III, § 2. The requirement for a live controversy “must be extant at all stages of review.”

Chirco v. Gateway Oaks, L.L.C., 384 F.3d 307, 309 (6th Cir. 2004) (quoting Arizonans for Off.

Eng. v. Arizona, 520 U.S. 43, 67, (1997)). In that regard, “[a] case may become moot at any stage

of litigation ‘when the issues presented are no longer “live” or the parties lack a legally cognizable

interest in the outcome.’” Fouts v. Warren City Council, 97 F.4th 459, 464 (6th Cir. 2024) (quoting

Graveline v. Benson, 992 F.3d 524, 533 (6th Cir. 2021)). “Ultimately, the ‘test for mootness is

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whether the relief sought would, if granted, make a difference to the legal interests of the parties.’”

Sullivan v. Benningfield, 920 F.3d 401, 410 (6th Cir. 2019) (emphasis added) (quoting McPherson

v. Mich. High Sch. Athletic Ass’n, 119 F.3d 453, 458 (6th Cir. 1997) (en banc)). A case is moot

“only when it is impossible for a court to grant ‘any effectual relief whatever’ to the prevailing

party.” Knox v. Serv. Emps. Int’l Union, Local 1000, 567 U.S. 298, 307 (2012) (quoting Erie v.

Pap’s A.M., 529 U.S. 277, 287 (2000)).

Garton maintains that the dismissal of the final Defendants and the claims against them did

not render moot his appeal of the district court’s protective order decision. We find this argument

unavailing. We have previously observed that under most circumstances, a “settlement of a

plaintiff’s claims moots an action.” Pettrey v. Enter. Title Agency, Inc., 584 F.3d 701, 703 (6th

Cir. 2009) (quoting Brunet v. City of Columbus, 1 F.3d 390, 399 (6th Cir. 1993)) (cleaned up).

This is because when a plaintiff “settle[s] and release[s] all of [his] claims against the defendants,

the plaintiff[] no longer ha[s] a personal stake—i.e., a legally cognizable interest—in the outcome

of the litigation.” Id.; see also United States Parole Comm’n v. Geraghty, 445 U.S. 388, 396

(1980).

For instance, in Pettrey, the plaintiffs brought a class action lawsuit against the defendants

alleging claims of fraud. 584 F.3d at 702. The plaintiffs moved to certify the class and after the

district court denied the request, they sought interlocutory review with this court, which we denied.

Id. at 703. The parties then entered a settlement agreement in which the plaintiffs agreed to release

all of their individual claims for damages, attorneys’ fees, and litigation costs. Id. Yet, the

plaintiffs had retained their right to appeal the denial of class certification. Id. After the district

court dismissed the action pursuant to the settlement, the plaintiffs—consistent with their

reservation of right—appealed the court’s order denying class certification. Id. But in reviewing

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whether this court had jurisdiction to review the order, we explained that although the settlement

agreement reserved the plaintiffs’ right to appeal the denial of class certification, it was irrelevant

because the plaintiffs “voluntarily chose to bargain away all of their interests via a negotiated

settlement [and a release of liability].” Id. at 706. And “[b]ecause their personal stake ha[d] been

extinguished and no other putative class members ha[d] stepped forward to replace them as the

named plaintiffs, th[e] case [was] moot.” Id.

Though Pettrey did not involve a challenge to a protective order, it is nonetheless

instructive to our analysis here. Garton executed a Release that dismissed “all claims raised,

claimed, or made against the [remaining] Defendants in the Lawsuit, including any additional

claims he could have raised against the Defendants, [which were] compromised, settled, and

extinguished in their entirety.” (R. 116-1, PageID 2180). Unlike the Pettrey plaintiffs who at least

attempted to preserve their interests in an earlier adjudicated matter in that case, Garton reserved

no issues for post-settlement review. It follows that the result would be the same: Garton chose

to “bargain away” any “legally cognizable interest” in the litigation’s outcome, and his “personal

stake [w]as . . . extinguished” as a result. Pettrey, 584 F.3d at 706. That includes his interest in

Craig and Vallee’s earlier adjudicated motion for a protective order. See Deposit Guar. Nat’l Bank

v. Roper, 445 U.S. 326, 332 (1980) (“Should . . . substantive claims become moot in the Art. III

sense, by settlement of all personal claims for example, . . . court[s] retain[] no jurisdiction over

the controversy of the individual [defendants].”). As noted, Craig and Vallee moved for the

protective order well over a year after the district court dismissed the other six defendants from

the lawsuit. The protective order itself pertained to the investigative file concerning Garton’s

posting of the meme. But there are now no live claims associated with the posting. And to the

extent that Garton could, in theory, retain a legal interest in the continuing applicability of the

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protective order based on a new or continued dispute with the involuntarily dismissed defendants,

Garton neither sought to raise any new claims nor to appeal the dismissals of any of those

defendants. Garton’s dismissal of and concomitant release from liability of the final defendants

left his stake in the outcome of this disputed motion extinguished.

Defendants acknowledge two exceptions that could save Garton’s claims: when the case

remains live because issues outside of those that were settled have not become moot, and when

the underlying dispute between the parties is “capable of repetition yet evading review.” Int’l

Union, United Auto., Aerospace, Agr. & Implement Workers of Am. v. Dana Corp., 697 F.2d 718,

721 (6th Cir. 1983) (first quoting Univ. of Tex. v. Camenisch, 451 U.S. 390, 394 (1981); and then

quoting S. Pac. Terminal Co. v. ICC, 219 U.S. 498, 515 (1911)). Crucially, Garton does not

directly raise either argument. Instead, in his reply, Garton insists that his appeal of the protective

order is not moot because (1) the protective order was not contemplated under the plain language

of the Release, and (2) the nature of protective orders permits their review beyond the end of

litigation. Whether the Release contemplated the inclusion of the protective order, however, is not

dispositive; the parties’ failure to expressly identify the protective order ruling as part of the

Release does not excuse Garton from the responsibility to demonstrate a legally cognizable interest

in the dispute. Indeed, Garton makes no effort to explain what legal interest he retains in the

protective order ruling now that he has alternately dismissed and declined to appeal dismissal of

all claims, including any potential claims against non-party, past and present employees and agents

of the State of Tennessee, associated with the information that the order protects.3

3 To the extent that Garton may rely on the general notions of judicial transparency and the public’s right to access judicial documents—precepts he raises in his briefing on the merits concerning the propriety of the protective order’s issuance—might support his interest in the protective order, Garton cannot anchor his asserted interest to the general public’s interest. His stake must be “personal.” Pettrey, 584 F.3d at 703; Geraghty, 445 U.S. at 396. Notably, we have found that a protective order can be reviewed when a legally cognizable interest exists. See, e.g., Meyer

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Garton’s second point, while true as a general matter, does not help him here. We have

previously recognized that protective orders may be modified and revoked by a district court even

after a case has been settled and dismissed. See, e.g., Meyer Goldberg, Inc., of Lorain v. Fisher

Foods, Inc., 823 F.2d 159, 160 (6th Cir. 1987) (authorizing a challenge to a protective order

notwithstanding that “[t]he case was settled and dismissed with prejudice”). The underlying

principal lies in the ‘“long-established legal tradition’ allowing the public to inspect and copy

judicial records.” Grae v. Corr. Corp. of Am., 57 F.4th 567, 569 (6th Cir. 2023) (quoting Rudd

Equip. Co. v. John Deere Constr. & Forestry Co., 834 F.3d 589, 593 (6th Cir. 2016)). That said,

it is the district court, not the court of appeals, that retains jurisdiction to modify or lift a protective

order under such circumstances—and then only where a legally cognizable interest has been

established. See United Nuclear Corp. v. Cranford Ins. Co., 905 F.2d 1424, 1427 (10th Cir. 1990)

(“As long as a protective order remains in effect, the court that entered the order retains the power

to modify it, even if the underlying suit has been dismissed.”). Indeed, every case Garton relies

on concerned a post-judgment challenge to the ongoing applicability of a presumably valid

protective order where the parties demonstrated live stakes in the issue. And none challenged, as

Garton does here, the propriety of the original issuance of a protective order. Thus, this issue is

not properly raised before us. And we lack jurisdiction to reach the merits.

III.

For the foregoing reasons, we DISMISS the appeal.

Goldberg, Inc., of Lorain v. Fisher Foods, Inc., 823 F.2d 159, 164 (6th Cir. 1987) (third-party had a cognizable interest in gaining access to sealed documents for use in a separate antitrust lawsuit).

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