Lewis v. Ellen

Background

Regina Lewis asked the court to reopen her case. The court had dismissed the case with prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37 on July 13, 2021, citing her refusal to comply with discovery obligations and abusive behavior toward other litigants and the court. Lewis appealed, but the Second Circuit dismissed the appeal because prior orders required her to obtain that court’s permission before filing a new appeal, and she had not done so.

Rule 60(b) Analysis

The court treated Lewis’s request as one seeking relief from the dismissal under Rule 60(b), which lists six grounds for relief from a final judgment or order. The court held that grounds under Rule 60(b)(1) through (3) were unavailable because those motions must be filed within one year, and more than 18 months had passed since the case was closed.

The court also held that Rule 60(b)(4) and (5) did not apply. Those provisions concern matters such as a void judgment, a judgment that has been satisfied or discharged, a judgment based on an earlier judgment that was reversed or vacated, or a judgment whose prospective application is no longer equitable. Lewis’s case had instead been terminated because of her litigation conduct and failure to meet discovery deadlines.

Under Rule 60(b)(6), relief is available for another reason that justifies it, but the court explained that this requires extraordinary circumstances or an extreme and undue hardship, and cannot rely on grounds covered by the other provisions. Lewis did not identify extraordinary circumstances. The court also rejected her attempt to add claims, including a claim concerning her 2016 arrest and the statute to which she pleaded, explaining that new claims did not justify relief from a dismissal with prejudice based on failure to comply with discovery obligations.

Disposition

Judge Kenneth M. Karas denied Lewis’s request to reopen the case.