Salameh v. United States
- Lewis Kaplan
- 1:19-cv-04002
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Salameh v. United States, Judge Kaplan denied Salameh’s contempt motion because contempt cannot enforce a money judgment.
Mohammad Salameh and the United States. The ruling denied Salameh’s requested contempt remedy while leaving the money judgment for $2,615 in place.
What happened
Mohammad Salameh asked the court to return money seized many years earlier. The United States agreed to return $2,615 and 32 dinars, but the money was not provided. The court entered a judgment for Salameh for $2,615, and he said the judgment remained unpaid.
Salameh then asked the court to hold the United States in contempt for failing to comply with the order and judgment. The court recognized that Salameh was entitled to the return of his property and that the government had not appealed the judgment.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan denied the contempt motion. He ruled that contempt is not an available remedy for failing to pay a money judgment, and explained that a judgment against the United States may instead be paid through the process described in 28 U.S.C. § 2414.
The detailed version
- Salameh v. United States · No. 1:19-cv-04002
- Lewis Kaplan
- Dec. 31, 2020
Background
Mohammad Salameh, identified in the opinion as a federal inmate because of his conviction in the first World Trade Center bombing case, moved under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41(g) for the return of property seized many years earlier. The government later conceded that Salameh might be entitled to the property and undertook to return $2,615 and 32 dinars. The court directed the government to do so.
When the money was not returned, the court directed entry of judgment against the United States and in Salameh’s favor for $2,615. Judgment was entered the next day. Salameh stated that the judgment remained unpaid.
Motion and Legal Standard
Salameh moved to hold the United States in contempt for failing to comply with the court’s order and judgment. The court acknowledged that Salameh was entitled to the return of his property and that the government had not appealed.
The court explained that contempt ordinarily is not the proper remedy for failing to pay a money judgment. Under Rule 69(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a money judgment generally is enforced by a writ of execution unless the court directs another method. The court stated that execution is not available against the United States in a case like this, and that alternative enforcement methods are available only in narrow circumstances.
Ruling
The court concluded that Salameh appeared to have an adequate remedy through 28 U.S.C. § 2414. That provision generally provides for payment of judgments against the United States after the Attorney General certifies them as final and the Secretary of the Treasury pays them.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan denied Salameh’s motion to hold the United States in contempt. The opinion did not alter the judgment for $2,615 or state that the underlying obligation had been satisfied.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.