Semper v. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

District Court, D. Nevada·Decided March 28, 2025·No. 2:20-cv-01875·Unknown

Opinion

* * *

PHILLIP SEMPER, et al., Case No. 2:20-CV-1875 JCM (EJY)

Plaintiff(s), ORDER

v.

DEPARTMENT, et al., Defendant(s).

The remaining defendants in this action include the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (“LVMPD”), Andrew Bauman, Matthew Kravetz, Supreet Kaur, David Jeong, and Theron Young (collectively “defendants”). The remaining plaintiffs include Corey Johnson, Ashley Medlock, Michael Green, Demarlo Riley, Clinton Reece, Connie Semper, and Lonicia Bowie. The following motions are presently before the court: • plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment (ECF No. 134), to which defendants responded (ECF No. 152), and plaintiffs replied (ECF No. 165); • plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration (ECF No. 141), to which defendants responded (ECF No. 151), and plaintiffs replied (ECF No. 158); • defendants’ motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 142), to which plaintiffs responded (ECF No. 161); • plaintiffs’ motion to strike (ECF No. 156), to which defendants responded (ECF No. 168), and plaintiffs replied (ECF No. 171); • plaintiffs’ motion to extend time for reply in support of its motion for partial summary judgment (ECF No. 157); • plaintiffs’ motion for leave to file excess pages (ECF No. 159); • plaintiffs’ second motion for leave to file excess pages (ECF No. 164); and • defendants’ motion to extend time for reply in support of its motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 169), to which plaintiffs responded (ECF No. 170), and defendants replied (ECF No. 172). I. Background This is a civil rights case brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The parties are familiar with the facts of this case, and the court does not recite them herein. (See ECF Nos. 38; 113). After years of litigation, the following causes of action remain: (1) the Title VI claim against LVMPD; (2) the procedural due process claim against LVMPD; (3) the right to association and expression claim as a direct prohibition (First Amendment) against LVMPD; (4) the right to association and expression claim as a chilling effect (First Amendment) against LVMPD; (5) the unreasonable search and seizure claim against the officers in their individual capacity; (6) the unreasonable search and seizure claim against LVMPD; (7) the unlawful detention claim against the officers in their individual capacity; and (8) the unlawful detention claim against LVMPD. (See ECF No. 89). II. Plaintiffs’ Motion for Reconsideration Plaintiffs move this court to reconsider its order granting defendants’ motion to extend time to file their motion for summary judgment. (ECF No. 141). The LVMPD defendants’ deadline to file their motion for summary judgment was March 18, 2024. On March 20, 2024, the LVMPD defendants filed a motion to extend time to file their motion for summary judgment. (ECF No. 139). On March 25, 2024, this court granted the LVMPD defendants’ motion to extend time. (ECF No. 140). Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(e) “permits a district court to reconsider and amend a previous order[;]” however, “the rule offers an extraordinary remedy, to be used sparingly in the interests of finality and conservation of judicial resources.” Carroll v. Nakatani, 342 F.3d 934, 945 (9th Cir. 2003) (internal quotations omitted). A motion for reconsideration “should not be granted, absent highly unusual circumstances.” Kona Enters., Inc. v. Estate of Bishop, 229 F.3d 877, 890 (9th Cir. 2000). Thus, the Ninth Circuit has provided that “[r]econsideration is appropriate if the district court (1) is presented with newly discovered evidence, (2) committed clear error or the initial decision was manifestly unjust, or (3) if there is an intervening change in controlling law.” School Dist. No. 1J v. ACandS, Inc., 5 F.3d 1255, 1263 (9th Cir. 1993); Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b). Plaintiffs argue that defendants’ motion to extend time should have been denied because the motion itself was late and deficient. (ECF No. 141 at 8). This case has been pending for over four years. In the interests of time and justice, the court will deny plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration. See LR IA 1-4. Moreover, plaintiffs have failed to prove that this court committed clear error or that its initial decision was manifestly unjust. However, the court does find it necessary to deny defendants’ motion to extend time to file a reply in support of their motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 169) to prevent any further delay.1 The court also finds that good cause exists to grant plaintiffs’ unopposed motion for leave to file excess pages for their response to defendants’ motion for summary judgment. (ECF No. 159). 1 Importantly, defendants have failed to show that good cause exists to grant their motion. III. Plaintiffs’ Motion to Strike Plaintiffs also move to strike defendants’ opposition to their motion for partial summary judgment, or in the alternative, clarify what filing they must respond to. (ECF No. 156). This court permitted both parties to file 60-page motions for summary judgment. (ECF No. 138). However, this court did not permit the parties to file oppositions longer than 30 pages. (Id.). Defendants initially filed a 19-page response to plaintiffs’ motion. (ECF No. 149). After the clerk of court issued a notice to defendants that the motion did not include an attorney’s signature, they filed a notice of corrected image. (ECF No. 152). The new document was a 52- page opposition to plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment. (Id.). “Motions for summary judgment and responses to motions for summary judgment are limited to 30 pages, excluding exhibits. Replies in support of a motion for summary judgment are limited to 20 pages.” LR 7-3(a). Moreover, a motion to exceed the page limits must be filed. See LR 7-3(c). Defendants did not ask this court for permission to file a 52-page opposition. The court reminds defendants that it may strike any document that does not conform with the local rules. See Local Rule IA 10-1(d). However, in the interests of time and justice, the court will consider defendants’ opposition to plaintiffs’ motion. The court will also consider plaintiffs’ reply (ECF No. 165). Moreover, the court finds good cause to grant plaintiffs’ motion to extend time to reply (ECF No. 157) and motion for leave to file excess pages (ECF No. 164). . . . . . . . . . IV. Motions for Summary Judgment A. Legal Standard The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allow summary judgment when the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits (if any), show that “there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). Information may be considered at the summary judgment stage if it would be admissible at trial. Fraser v. Goodale, 342 F.3d 1032, 1036 (9th Cir. 2003) (citing Block v. Los Angeles, 253 F.3d 410, 418–19 (9th Cir. 2001)). A principal purpose of summary judgment is “to isolate and dispose of factually unsupported claims.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323–24 (1986). In considering evidence at the summary judgment stage, the court does not make credibility determinations or weigh conflicting evidence. Rather, it draws all inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. See T.W. Elec. Serv., Inc. v. Pac. Elec. Contractors Ass'n, 809 F.2d 626, 630–31 (9th Cir.1987). W

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Semper v. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, (D. Nev. 2025).

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