Republican Party v. Martin

136 F.R.D. 421, 1991 WL 56425
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. North Carolina
DecidedJanuary 20, 1991
DocketNo. 88-263-CIV-5-F
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 136 F.R.D. 421 (Republican Party v. Martin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Republican Party v. Martin, 136 F.R.D. 421, 1991 WL 56425 (E.D.N.C. 1991).

Opinion

ORDER

JAMES C. FOX, Chief Judge.

NATURE OF THE CASE

Plaintiffs in this action challenge the constitutionality of North Carolina’s system of electing Superior Court judges. James G. Martin, Governor of North Carolina (“Governor Martin”), is a defendant in his official capacity. On March 14, 1990, the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers (“NCABL”), defendant-intervenor in this case, applied to the court for a subpoena duces tecum commanding Governor Martin’s appearance at a deposition and requiring the Governor to produce:

(a) All documents related to the General Assembly’s enactment, or failure to enact, any legislation or proposed legislation to modify the method of electing Superior Court Judges in North Carolina[; and]
(b) All documents which relate to plaintiffs’ contention that the current method of electing Superior Court Judges in North Carolina discriminates against the Republican Party and Republican voters.

Governor Martin moved to quash the subpoena duces tecum and for a protective order that his deposition not be had, on the grounds that the subpoena commanded production of documents protected by executive privilege, by the work product doctrine, and by the attorney-client privilege, and because of the unnecessary intrusion on the office of Governor to respond. By order dated November 7, 1990, (the “Order”) this court ordered that the deposition be held subject to specified limitations, and that Governor Martin supplement his Motion to Quash by: (a) marking all the documents subpoenaed by the NCABL for identification and delivering the same, under seal, to the Clerk of Court for an in camera review by the court; (b) submitting an inventory of all documents by identification number; and (c) submitting a brief disclosing as to each document the applicable privilege(s) and the rationale for the privilege(s).

Governor Martin has submitted a Memorandum in Response to the Order (“Response Memorandum”) supplementing his Motion to Quash, and said motion is now ripe for ruling.

DISCUSSION

Attached to Governor Martin’s Response Memorandum as Exhibit A is a 32 page list of all 369 (by the court’s count) subpoenaed documents. Said Exhibit contains, as to each document, a brief indication of the privilege asserted and the reason therefor, the document’s “Bates” number, and a brief description of the contents of the [424]*424document. The index to Exhibit A classifies each document as either “W” (“waiver of privilege”), “ACP” (“attorney client privilege”), “WP” (“work product”), “R” (“not relevant”), “NP” (“no privilege asserted”), and “Public record.” In addition, the classifications of certain documents are followed by a “?” (“asserted privilege is based [o]n the limited information currently available”). No reference is made to executive privilege, because Governor Martin has now elected to waive the same. See Response Memorandum at 4.

The court has carefully reviewed each document identified in Exhibit A individually, and finds Governor Martin’s description of, and numbering of, each document to be essentially fair and accurate and has attached a copy of Appendix A to the instant order in order to use the same as a reference.1 , 2 However, for the reasons expressed infra, the court believes that several of the documents for which a privilege is claimed are in fact not privileged, and the court thus declines to adopt the classifications asserted in Exhibit A, except as specifically noted.

The court will first briefly summarize the applicable law as to evidentiary relevance, the attorney-client privilege, and the work product doctrine1 *3, before ruling on Governor Martin’s Motion to Quash as to each document.

1. Documents for Which no Protection is Claimed

There are 177 documents for which Governor Martin has either not claimed a privilege, or for which he has waived any privilege. The court hereby ORDERS Governor Martin to comply with the NCABL’s subpoena duces tecum as to the three documents listed only4 as “NP,” the 151 documents listed only as “W,” and the 23 documents listed only as “Public record,” within ten (10) days of the date of this order.

2. Relevance

There are 48 documents which Governor Martin claims are not discoverable for the sole reason (see fn. 4) that they are not “relevant” to the subject matter of the instant action. Rule ■ 26(b)(1), Fed.R.Civ.P., provides, in pertinent part, that “[pjarties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending ac-tion____” (Emphasis added.) This court has previously commented on this “relevancy” requirement as follows:

Rules 26 through 37 of the Federal Rules have been interpreted liberally to allow maximum discovery. Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495, 67 S.Ct. 385, 91 L.Ed. 451 (1947). It is clear that what is relevant in discovery is far different from what is relevant at trial, in that the concept at the discovery state is much [425]*425broader. See C. Wright, Law of Federal Courts 403 (1976). Discovery is designed to define and clarify the issues. If requested materials are reasonably calculated to lead to discovery of admissible evidence, the discovery request is relevant. F.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(1); Weddington v. Consolidated Rail Corp., 101 F.R.D. 71, 73 (N.D.Ind.1984)[;] Alliance to End Repression v. Rockford, 75 F.R.D. 441, 444 (N.D.Ill.1977). Therefore, discovery requests should be complied with if there is a reasonable possibility that the information sought may be relevant to the subject matter of the action. Sherman Park Community Association v. Wauwatosa Realty, 486 F.Supp. 838, 845 (E.D.Wis.1980).

Spell v. McDaniel, 591 F.Supp. 1090, 1114 (E.D.N.C.1984).

But, while “the requirement of relevancy should be construed liberally and with common sense, rather than in terms of narrow legalisms[,] [n]o one would suggest that discovery should be allowed of information that has no conceivable bearing on the case.” C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil § 2008, at 45-46 (1970) (footnotes omitted) (hereinafter “Wright & Miller”).

The vast majority of these documents are the reverse sides of newspaper clippings commenting on North Carolina’s system of electing Superior Court judges. After reviewing the content of these reverse sides, the court finds that Governor Martin has accurately portrayed them as not relevant to the instant document request. Similarly, the court finds that most of the other documents asserted not to be relevant are accurately so portrayed. There are, however, five documents which the court feels might be relevant; these are:

Appendix A, Page No. Document No.

- AG00560-592

- DG00395-396

- DG00397

- DG00554

- DG00555

The court will hold Governor Martin’s Motion to Quash in abeyance as to these five documents.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
136 F.R.D. 421, 1991 WL 56425, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/republican-party-v-martin-nced-1991.