Warren v. Sparks Police Department

District Court, D. Nevada·Decided January 31, 2025·No. 2:23-cv-00065·Unknown

Opinion

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA

3 ALLANNA WARREN, 4 Plaintiff, Case No.: 2:23-cv-00065-GMN-DJA 5 vs. ORDER GRANTING IN PART 6 SPARKS POLICE DEPARTMENT, et al., MOTION TO DISMISS AND 7 ADOPTING R&R Defendants. 8 9 Pending before the Court is the Second Motion to Dismiss, (ECF No. 349), filed by 10 Defendant Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (“LVMPD”). Plaintiff Allanna Warren 11 filed a Response, (ECF No. 359), and Defendant LVMPD filed a Reply, (ECF No. 371). Also 12 pending before the Court is the Report and Recommendation (“R&R”) by Magistrate Judge 13 Daniel J. Albregts, (ECF No. 284), recommending that Plaintiff be deemed a vexatious litigant. 14 Plaintiff filed an Objection, (ECF No. 316). Further pending before the Court is the Motion to 15 Vacate the Order and Report and Recommendation, (ECF No. 288), filed by Plaintiff. 16 Defendant LVMPD filed a Response, (ECF No. 294). For the reasons discussed below, the 17 Court GRANTS, in part, and DENIES, in part, Defendant LVMPD’s Motion to Dismiss, 18 ADOPTS IN FULL the R&R, and DENIES the Motion to Vacate. 19 I. BACKGROUND 20 Plaintiff brings this action against Defendant LVMPD and others1 asserting various 21 federal and state law claims, alleging that LVMPD is improperly surveilling and stalking her. 22 (See generally Sec. Am. Compl. (“SAC”), ECF No. 341). 23 24 25 1 The case was originally brought against 29 Defendants, however, Plaintiff’s Second Amended Complaint only names LVMPD, Doe Government Entities, LVMPD Doe Police Officers, and Doe Individuals as Defendants in the case caption. (See generally SAC, ECF No. 341). 1 Magistrate Judge Albregts issued the pending R&R, (ECF No. 284), recommending that 2 the Court deem Plaintiff a vexatious litigant. As the Magistrate Judge explained in his R&R, 3 the Court previously ordered Plaintiff to show cause in writing as to why she should not be 4 declared a vexatious litigant and be subject to a pre-filing injunction for future actions. (Order 5 & R&R 1:12–13, ECF No. 284). 6 Plaintiff did not respond to the Show Cause Order, but did file numerous appeals, 7 motions, and miscellaneous supplements, affidavits, and exhibits after Magistrate Judge 8 Albregts entered the R&R. One of those appeals was for the Show Cause Order. (See Not. of 9 Appeal, ECF No. 134). Plaintiff moved the Court to stay the case pending her appeal, and the 10 Court granted her Motion. (First Mot. Stay Case, ECF No. 153); (Oct. 25, 2023, Min. Order, 11 ECF No. 166). Despite the stay, Plaintiff continued to file exhibits, appeals, and supplements. 12 The Ninth Circuit dismissed Plaintiff’s appeal of the Show Cause Order for her failure to 13 prosecute the appeal, and the Court lifted the stay. (See generally USCA Order, ECF No. 225); 14 (See Apr. 4, 2024, Min. Order, ECF No. 226). 15 The Court sua sponte gave Plaintiff additional time to respond to the Show Cause Order 16 after the stay was lifted, reasoning that “[i]t appears that Plaintiff may have believed 17 the time to respond to the Court’s Show Cause Order was tolled by her appeal and the 18 subsequent stay.” (Apr. 4., 2024, Min. Order, ECF No. 227). Plaintiff timely filed a Response 19 to the Show Cause Order. (See Resp. Show Cause Order, ECF No. 239). In Plaintiff’s 20 Response, she did not explain why the Court should not declare her vexatious, despite being

21 ordered to do so. (See generally id.). Then in Plaintiff’s Objection to the R&R, she argued that 22 she is not vexatious, but instead “utilize[d] her American rights to sue those who have wronged 23 her.” (Obj. at 10, ECF No. 316). Plaintiff spends the majority of her Objection arguing for why 24 LVMPD should be declared a vexatious litigant and how the other defendants have wronged 25 her. (See generally id.). 1 The Court granted Defendant LVMPD’s first Motion to Dismiss, but gave Plaintiff leave 2 to amend her First Amended Complaint.2 (See generally Am. Order Granting Deft.’s Mot. 3 Dismiss 5:2–10, ECF No. 330). Plaintiff timely filed her SAC alleging violations of several 4 federal and state laws. (See generally SAC). Now Defendant LVMPD moves to dismiss the 5 SAC for failure to state a claim. 6 II. LEGAL STANDARD 7 A. Motion to Dismiss 8 Dismissal is appropriate under Rule 12(b)(6) where a pleader fails to state a claim upon 9 which relief can be granted. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“Fed. R. Civ. P.”) 12(b)(6); Bell 10 Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007). A pleading must give fair notice of a legally 11 cognizable claim and the grounds on which it rests, and although a court must take all factual 12 allegations as true, legal conclusions couched as factual allegations are insufficient. Twombly, 13 550 U.S. at 555. Accordingly, Rule 12(b)(6) requires “more than labels and conclusions, and a 14 formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Id. “To survive a motion 15 to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim 16 to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting 17 Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual 18 content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the 19 misconduct alleged.” Id. This standard “asks for more than a sheer possibility that a defendant 20 has acted unlawfully.” Id.

21 B. Review of R&R 22 A party may file specific written objections to the findings and recommendations of a 23 United States Magistrate Judge made pursuant to Local Rule IB 1-4. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B); 24

25 2 The First Amended Complaint was filed in the state court proceedings before this case was removed to federal court which was attached to the Petition for Removal, (ECF No. 1). 1 D. Nev. R. IB 3-2. Upon the filing of such objections, the Court must make a de novo 2 determination of those portions to which objections are made. Id. The Court may accept, reject, 3 or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the Magistrate Judge. 4 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1); D. Nev. R. IB 3-2(b). 5 C. Vexatious Litigant 6 The All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a), empowers federal district courts to enjoin 7 vexatious litigants who have a history of abusing the court’s limited resources. See De Long v. 8 Hennessey, 912 F.2d 1144, 1147 (9th Cir. 1990). Under the All Writs Act, a district court can 9 order a person with lengthy histories of abusive litigation—a vexatious litigant—to obtain leave 10 of the court before filing any future lawsuits. See Molski v. Evergreen Dynasty Corp., 500 F.3d 11 1047, 1057 (9th Cir. 2007) (citing 28 U.S.C. § 165l(a)). 12 “Flagrant abuse of the judicial process cannot be tolerated because it enables one person 13 to preempt the use of judicial time that properly could be used to consider the meritorious 14 claims of other litigants.” De Long, 912 F.2d at 1148. But the Ninth Circuit has cautioned that 15 vexatious litigant orders are an extreme remedy and should rarely be entered. Id.

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