Whitehead v. Netflix Inc.
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-00883
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Whitehead v. Netflix, Judge Swain denied reconsideration of prior recusal denials, finding Whitehead’s bias claims unsupported, and denied his request to proceed without paying fees on appeal.
David Louis Whitehead, whose motion for reconsideration was denied and whose request to proceed without paying fees on appeal was also denied.
What happened
In Whitehead v. Netflix Inc., David Louis Whitehead asked the court to reconsider its earlier denials of his requests that the judge step aside. The court had found that his claims of judicial bias lacked merit.
Whitehead repeated arguments that the judge was biased because of her appointment by President Bill Clinton, alleged connections involving the Clintons, Barack and Michelle Obama, Hollywood entertainment companies, and Netflix, and the judge’s ruling against him in an earlier case.
The court denied reconsideration because Whitehead presented no new legal or factual matter undermining the earlier rulings. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying fees.
The detailed version
- Whitehead v. Netflix Inc. · No. 1:22-cv-00883
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 8, 2022
Background
The court had previously denied Whitehead’s motion and amended motion asking the judge to recuse herself, meaning to step aside because of alleged bias. Those orders found that Whitehead’s claims of judicial bias were unsupported and that the court had no bias or prejudice against him.
Motion for Reconsideration
Whitehead moved for reconsideration of the earlier orders. He argued that the court was biased because Judge Swain had been appointed by President Bill Clinton, whom Whitehead associated with Hillary Clinton, Barack and Michelle Obama, and Hollywood entertainment companies including Netflix, a defendant in the case. Whitehead also argued that the court was biased because it had ruled against him in a prior case.
The court concluded that Whitehead largely repeated the arguments from his earlier recusal motions. It therefore applied the reasons stated in the March 8 and March 18, 2022 orders and found that his assertions did not justify recusal. The court also found that Whitehead identified no legal or factual matter calling its earlier denials into question.
Ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied Whitehead’s motion for reconsideration, as stated in the order’s conclusion. The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal. The opinion addresses the reconsideration and recusal issues; it does not decide the underlying claims against Netflix or the other defendants.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.