Metz v. Supreme Court

46 F. App'x 228
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedAugust 19, 2002
DocketNo. 01-3149
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 46 F. App'x 228 (Metz v. Supreme Court) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Metz v. Supreme Court, 46 F. App'x 228 (6th Cir. 2002).

Opinion

CLAY, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff John H. Metz, a Cincinnati attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Ohio, appeals from the order granting the motions filed by Defendants, the Supreme Court of Ohio, et al., dismissing his complaint alleging a violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 wherein he challenged actions tak[230]*230en by Defendants when he attempted to file a merits brief on behalf of a client in an appeal before the Ohio Supreme Court. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the district court’s judgment.

BACKGROUND

A. Procedural History

On July 3, 2000 Plaintiff filed a complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Defendants, the Supreme Court of Ohio and its individual justices, Supreme Court Clerks Marcia Mengel and Mary Ann Dix, and Attorney General Betty D. Montgomery. According to a rule promulgated by the Ohio Supreme Court, Ohio S.Ct. Prac. R. XIV, pleadings received in its Clerk’s Office after 5:00 p.m. will not be filed until the next business day. Plaintiffs complaint alleged that on July 1,1998 the Supreme Court of Ohio refused to accept his merits brief, which he attempted to file on behalf of a client whom he was representing in a malpractice action before the Supreme Court, even though he claimed to have presented the brief before the 5:00 p.m. filing deadline. As a result, the appeal in the underlying malpractice action was dismissed.

In an amended complaint, Plaintiff alleges, in pertinent part, that Ohio S.Ct. Prac. R. XIV violates the Ohio Constitution by allowing non-judicial officers to determine what pleadings will be placed before the court. Plaintiff also alleges that Ohio S. Ct. Prac. R. XIV violates prior case law of the Ohio Supreme Court. In addition, Plaintiff claims that the rule violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by vesting judicial power in the hands of non-judicial officers. Plaintiff also alleges that, as an attorney, his due process rights were violated because he has a property right in practicing law and in having access to the courts in the State of Ohio. Plaintiff further claims that the enforcement of Ohio S.Ct. Prac. R. XIV violates the Privileges and Immunities Clauses of the U.S. Constitution. In his amended complaint, Plaintiff sought an injunction prohibiting the Ohio Supreme Court from allowing its non-judicial employees to wield judicial power, a ruling that Ohio S.Ct. Prac. R. XIV is unconstitutional as applied, and monetary damages, including punitive damages, against Defendants Dix and Mengel.

On July 27, 2000, Attorney General Montgomery filed an unopposed motion to dismiss the claims against her, claiming that Plaintiffs complaint failed to state any specific allegations against her. The remaining Defendants filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings on August 30, 2000, claiming that Plaintiffs complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. In particular, the Ohio Supreme Court claimed sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment for itself and its members. Defendants also requested the dismissal of Plaintiffs state-law claims, alleging lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Defendants further claimed that Plaintiffs claims based upon due process and the Privileges and Immunities Clauses faded to state claims for which relief can be granted, and thus should be dismissed as well.

Plaintiff responded on September 20, 2000 with a memorandum in opposition to Defendants’ motion for a judgment on the pleadings and moved to amend his complaint. In his brief, Plaintiff argued that the district court had jurisdiction to provide injunctive relief against the Ohio Supreme Court and its individual members. Plaintiff also claimed that the Ohio Supreme Court waived its sovereign immunity with respect to Defendants Dix and Mengel because Ohio law requires the Clerk of the Ohio Supreme Court to post a bond. Thereafter, on November 3, 2000, [231]*231Plaintiff filed an amended complaint clarifying that the individual justices of the Ohio Supreme Court were being sued in their official capacities only for purposes of injunctive relief and that Defendants Dix and Mengel were being sued in their individual and official capacities. In response, Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint on November 14, 2000.

In an opinion and order filed on January 16, 2001, the district court dismissed the claims against Attorney General Montgomery and granted in part both Defendants’ motion to dismiss and their motion for judgment on the pleadings, specifically finding that Plaintiff had no standing to assert his due process claims and, alternatively, that no due process violations occurred. The district court also dismissed with prejudice Plaintiffs claim alleging deprivation of privileges and immunities under the Fourteenth Amendment and Article IV, § 2 of the United States Constitution. The district court further ruled that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over Plaintiffs state-law claims and declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over them. Plaintiff filed a timely notice of appeal from the district court’s order.

B. Substantive History

Plaintiffs appeal arises from his attempt to file a merits brief with the Supreme Court of Ohio on behalf of a client in a malpractice case. Plaintiff claims that a Supreme Court clerk refused to accept the merits brief when it was presented to her before the 5:00 p.m. filing deadline on July 1,1998. Defendants counter that the clerk refused to accept the brief because it was presented after the 5:00 p.m. filing deadline had passed. It is undisputed that pursuant to Ohio S.Ct. Prac. R. XIV (1)(A), pleadings received after 5:00 p.m. are not filed until the next business day. Under Ohio S.Ct. Prac. R. XIV, no brief shall be filed with the Supreme Court after the established deadline, and the Clerk of the Court is directed to refuse to file any untimely pleading.

According to Plaintiff, when he entered the building in Columbus, Ohio where the Supreme Court is located on July 1, 1998, he asked the security guard who stopped him to check his identification if it was after 5:00 p.m., and the guard responded, “No.” Plaintiff then proceeded to the Supreme Court’s Clerk’s Office located on the third floor of the building. Upon entering, Plaintiff noticed that two employees were “gathering] their things together to leave,” and another employee, Defendant Mary Ann Dix, the Deputy Clerk, was talking on the telephone. When Dix got off the phone, Plaintiff offered to submit the brief for filing, believing that he had beaten the 5:00 p.m. deadline. Dix, however, informed Plaintiff that it was after 5:00 p.m. and that the Clerk’s Office would not accept any filings for the day. According to Plaintiff, he pointed out that several clocks in the office indicated that it was 4:58 p.m. or 4:59 p.m., but that it was definitely not after 5:00 p.m. Dix then told Plaintiff that once the computers were turned off, the Clerk would not accept any filings and that the computers were now off. Amended Complaint, 11119-13. According to Plaintiff, he beseeched Dix to be reasonable, but she responded that “the clerk decides what time it is.” Amended Complaint, H 14.

Plaintiff then asked to speak with Dix’s superior, Defendant Marcia Mengel, the Clerk of the Ohio Supreme Court.

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Bluebook (online)
46 F. App'x 228, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/metz-v-supreme-court-ca6-2002.