Ahmad v. Levi, Civ. A. No. 75-2550.
| Decision Date | 10 June 1976 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 75-2550. |
| Citation | 414 F. Supp. 597 |
| Parties | Hajji A. R. AHMAD et al. v. Edward LEVI et al. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
Hajji A. R. Ahmad, pro se.
Gregory M. Harvey, Roberta S. Staats, Philadelphia, Pa., for Vin Burke and CBS Inc.
David H. Marion, Samuel E. Klein, Philadelphia, Pa., for New York Times Co., Associated Press, Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.
Lewis H. Van Dusen, Jr., Timothy C. Russell, Philadelphia, Pa., for American Society of Newspaper Editors, American Newspaper Publishers Ass'n, National Newspaper Publishers Ass'n, Wall Street Journal.
John R. McConnell, Roberta S. Staats, Philadelphia, Pa., for American Bar Ass'n, Bulletin Co.
L. Gerald Rigby, Philadelphia, Pa., for United Press International, Inc.
Elihu A. Greenhouse, Philadelphia, Pa., for WPVI-Television.
Arthur E. Newbold, IV, Steven E. Feirson, Philadelphia, Pa., for KYW Radio & Television.
The Court has already dealt with certain of plaintiffs' grievances, though not with this case, in an unreported Memorandum Order dated September 5, 1975. At that time, Hajji A. R. Ahmad, one of the instant plaintiffs, was plaintiff in two related civil actions, Nos. 75-1829 and 75-1851. Initially, both suits appeared to involve only a relatively uncomplicated claim of employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. As the summer of 1975 wore on, however, Mr. Ahmad, acting as his own attorney in Civil Action No. 75-1829, assailed this Court with a barrage of petitions, motions, and requests for relief that far exceeded the scope of the original complaints. Since it appeared that Mr. Ahmad had, with the filing of Civil Action No. 75-1851, already secured the relief he sought in Civil Action No. 75-1829, I denied in my Order of September 5, 1975 virtually all of his other petitions, motions, and requests for relief. In response to those rulings, Mr. Ahmad filed the instant action, where he again seeks much of the relief that he ultimately requested in Civil Action No. 75-1829. See Complaint, Doc. # 1, at ¶ 9.1 He asks generally that this Court compel the United States Government to adhere to the Constitution and laws of the United States in the conduct of its foreign policy toward the State of Israel, that this Court redress alleged violations of his federal constitutional rights and of his federal and state statutory rights, that this Court compel the prosecution of those who have allegedly violated his rights, and that this Court compel the news media to cease suppressing information about alleged wrongdoing by the United States Government.
The case comes before the Court at the present time on motions to dismiss or strike filed by several of the named defendants.2 The moving defendants argue that the complaint should be dismissed or stricken as to them on one or another of the following grounds: (1) plaintiffs lack standing to bring this action; (2) the complaint does not state a claim upon which relief can be granted; (3) the allegations of the complaint do not meet the standards of specificity required in civil rights actions; and (4) plaintiffs have failed to comply with the requirements of Fed.R.Civ.P. 11. After careful consideration of these motions, I have concluded that the moving defendants have raised clearly meritorious defenses that apply not only to them, but to all other named defendants as well. Accordingly, the motions to dismiss will be granted, and the entire action will be dismissed with prejudice.
The sum total of plaintiffs' factual allegations about the non-governmental defendants appears in Paragraphs 8 and 9 of the original Complaint. In pertinent part, those paragraphs read as follows:
"8. Each of the defendants have received copy of evidence of wrong doing on behalf of members of the U.S. Gov't and have failed or refused to do what the law requires of him or her in their position.
. . . . .
9. . . .
The news-media discriminates against the plaintiff by concealing and refusing to publish new sic which;
(a) reveals unlawful activity on the part of the United States Government.
(b) benefits the plaintiff and the American public.
(c) shows unlawful activities on the part of U.S. Zionist.
(d) informs the public which laws are being violated by the United States foreign policy.
. . . . .
Plaintiffs is discriminated against by the defendants in all of its dealings with regards to the Middle East and by discriminating against Muslims in favor of Jews."
The original complaint, Doc. # 1, at ¶ 9, does incorporate two exhibits by reference. I have reviewed these exhibits with care and find that, when stripped of their rhetoric, neither materially increases the specificity of the complaint with respect to the moving defendants. The first alleges that World Zionism has captured the press in the United States and systematically suppresses news that is favorable to the Muslim or Arab cause. The second consists of a series of affidavits and pleadings in other actions. These documents generally allege that United States aid to Israel is illegal, that information showing the illegality of this aid has been furnished to various news media, including some of the moving defendants, and that the aforementioned news media have failed to publish this information.
Some of the documents appear to be part of a private criminal prosecution under federal mail fraud statutes. I make no judgment on the propriety of such a prosecution. It is clear, however, that these documents are not relevant to the motions to dismiss presently before the Court; the parties alleged to have made false representations to the plaintiff by mail do not include any of the moving defendants.
Because the documents that comprise plaintiffs' exhibits either do not mention the moving defendants at all, or do not state any specific conduct on the part of the individual moving defendants, or do not describe conduct on the part of the moving defendants that is not constitutionally protected, see Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo, infra, I shall not refer to those exhibits again in this opinion.
Plaintiffs attack the motions filed by some of the moving defendants on a number of procedural grounds, for example, the defendants' alleged failure to comply with the notice requirements of Local Rule 36 and Fed.R.Civ.P. 6(d), and their alleged failure to answer plaintiffs' complaint in timely fashion. Plaintiffs urge the Court to deny the relevant motions, to apply the sanctions of Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(d), and in some instances to enter a default against particular defendant. Plaintiffs' position does possess some superficial merit, for it is not clear whether all of the moving defendants fully complied with the notice requirements of the Local and Federal Rules. It was, however, precisely to avoid plunging this case into a procedural morass over deadlines that may or may not have been met that I freely granted all of plaintiffs' motions for enlargement of time in which to respond to the papers filed by the moving defendants. See Docs. §§ 57-59, 61-63. I was concerned lest plaintiffs, who are proceeding pro se, be prejudiced by any real or alleged failure of defendants to comply with filing deadlines. I am confident that my rulings on plaintiffs' motions for enlargement of time have cured any prejudice that might have existed.
There is another consideration that undercuts plaintiffs' procedural arguments. The last motions to which plaintiff was obliged to respond were filed on December 1, 1975. Those motions were not scheduled for oral argument until January 23, 1976. Plaintiffs thus had at least seven full weeks to file supplemental memoranda if they so desired.3
Moreover, on October 29, 1975, plaintiffs filed a comprehensive memorandum in opposition to the motions of six defendants to dismiss or strike the complaint. Doc. # 42. This memorandum thoroughly sets forth plaintiffs' theory of their case and the principal arguments on which they rely in opposing the motions to dismiss or strike. While the memorandum by its terms applies to only six of the moving defendants, plaintiffs have incorporated it in subsequent papers relating to other defendants, and I have, in any event, treated it as though its arguments had been advanced in opposition to all of the motions to dismiss or strike. Since the arguments of the defendants overlap to a significant degree, the plaintiffs' October 29 memorandum covers most of them.
Finally, in view of the clear and settled state of the law on the issues raised by the defendants, it would be grossly unfair to deny their motions or, in the extreme case, to enter a default against any of them for a real or alleged failure to comply with filing deadlines. The law favors adjudications on the merits. It does not favor either defaults or preclusions, especially when the party against whom the default or preclusion is sought possesses a meritorious defense, and especially when the complexity and prolixity of a party's pleadings materially increase the difficulty of an adversary's efforts to respond to them. That is precisely the case here. Accordingly, I hold that the defendants are not barred from asserting their undoubtedly meritorious defenses because of any real or alleged failures to comply with filing deadlines.
In his initial Complaint, Doc. # 1, Mr. Ahmad was the only named plaintiff, and described himself as "Plaintiff & Attorney in Fact." In his Amended Complaint, Doc. # 6, however, Mr. Ahmad, again describing himself as "Plaintiff & Attorney in Fact," listed an additional forty-odd parties plaintiff, none of whom have signed either the Amended Complaint or any other pleading in this action.4
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