Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran

• Citation: 349 F.Supp.2d 1108
• Decision Date: 01 December 2004
• Docket Number: No. 03 C 9370.,03 C 9370.
• Parties: Jenny RUBIN, et al., Plaintiffs, v. THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, et al., Defendants, v. The University of Chicago, et al., Citation Third Party Respondents.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

349 F.Supp.2d 1108

Jenny RUBIN, et al., Plaintiffs, v. THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, et al., Defendants, v. The University of Chicago, et al., Citation Third Party Respondents.

No. 03 C 9370.

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division.

December 1, 2004.

Timothy M. Murphy, Timothy M. Murply, P.C., Chicago, IL, David J. Strachman, Esq., McIntyre, Tate, Lynch & Holt, Providence, RI, for Plaintiffs.

Thomas A. Doyle, Matthew G. Allison, Hillary Paige Krantz, Baker & McKenzie, Chicago, IL, Lawrence W. Newman, Jacob M. Kaplan, Baker & McKenzie, New York, NY, for Citation Third Party Respondents.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ASHMAN, United States Magistrate Judge.

The discovery matter now before this Court concerns Plaintiffs', Jenny Rubin, Deborah Rubin, Daniel Miller, Abraham Mendelson, Stuart E. Hersch, Renay Frym, Noam Rozenman, Elena Rozenman, and Tvi Rozenman (collectively "Plaintiffs"), citation claiming assets of The Islamic Republic of Iran (a/k/a Iran, The Republic of Iran, Republic of Iran, The Government of Iran, Iranian Government, and Imperial Government of Iran), The Iranian Ministry of Information and Security, Ayatolla Ali Hoseini Khamenei, Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, and Ali Fallahian-Khuzestani (collectively "Defendants"). This matter comes before this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A) and Local Rule 72.1.

Citation Respondents, The University of Chicago a/k/a and/or d/b/a The Oriental Institute and Gil Stein (collectively the "Citation Respondents"), move this Court to enter a discovery protective order establishing that the Oriental Institute's creation of academic volumes documenting its translation of certain Iranian antiquities is irrelevant, as a matter of law, to Plaintiffs' citation proceeding. Plaintiffs oppose Citation Respondents' motion and argue that the documents in question are relevant to their citation claiming Iranian Government assets and are therefore discoverable pursuant to Rule 26 of the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure. In a related motion, Plaintiffs move the Court to impose contempt sanctions against Citation Respondents for failure to comply with Judge Manning's June 24, 2004 discovery order. For the reasons that follow, Citation Respondents' motion is granted and Plaintiffs' motion is denied.

I. Background

On September 4, 1997, Plaintiffs received personal injuries when the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas carried out a triple suicide bombing at a crowded pedestrian street mall in Jerusalem, Israel. Campuzano, et al. v. The Islamic Republic of Iran, et al., 281 F.Supp.2d 258, 261 (D.D.C.2003). On July 31, 2001, Plaintiffs sued Defendants for their injuries in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that Defendants provided material support to Hamas. Id. Jurisdiction over Plaintiffs' claims was based on the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act ("FSIA"), 28 U.S.C. § 1601 et seq. Id. On March 6, 2002, the Clerk entered default against Defendants. Id. And on August 2, 2002, Plaintiffs' case was consolidated for further proceedings with another group of plaintiffs making similar allegations arising out of the same incident. Id.

On September 10, 2003, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia found that Plaintiffs proved by "evidence satisfactory to the court," as well as "clear and convincing evidence," that Defendants provided direct material support to Hamas for the purpose of carrying out acts of extrajudicial killing, including the bombing at issue, and were liable for Plaintiffs' personal injuries caused by the bombing. Id. at 269-72. The Court then entered judgments on behalf of Plaintiffs against Defendants. The Court awarded Plaintiffs the following compensatory damages: $7 million to Jenny Rubin, $2.5 million to Deborah Rubin, $12 million to Daniel Miller, $12 million to Abraham Mendelson, $12 million to Stuart E. Hersch, $6 million to Renay Frym, $15 million to Noam Rozenman, $2.5 million to Elena Rozenman, and $2.5 million to Tvi Rozenman. Id. at 275-77. The Court also awarded those Plaintiffs who were present at the bombing, namely Jenny Rubin, Daniel Miller, Abraham Mendelson, Stuart E. Hersch, and Noam Rozenman, $37.5 million each in punitive damages, which can be collected jointly and severally from all Defendants except The Islamic Republic of Iran. Id. at 279.

Citation Respondents are in possession of various collections of Iranian antiquities. In particular, Citation Respondents possess two collections of ancient Persian seal impressions and cuneiform writings found on clay tablets and tablet fragments that were recovered in excavations in Iran in the 1930s and 1960s. (Citation Resps.' Mem. at 2.) The larger of the two collections, known as the Persepolis Fortification Texts, includes tablets and tablet fragments from the reign of Darius I (500 B.C.). (Id.) The other collection, known as the Chogha Mish collection, consists of a relatively small number of clay seal impressions. (Id.) The Persepolis Fortification Texts and the Chogha Mish collection were loaned to Citation Respondents, in the 1930s and 1960s respectively, to study for philological and archeological purposes with the understanding that the collections would be returned to Iran when Citation Respondents' studies were complete. (Id.) Over the ensuing decades, much research and publication has been generated by these collections. (Id. at 3.) In accordance with the loan agreement, portions of the collections have been returned to Iran as the study was completed. (Id.) At present, study of the Chogha Mish collection has been completed and the collection is due to be returned to Iran pending the resolution of a claim at the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague. (Id.) The Persepolis Fortification Texts have never been involved in any Iran-United States Claims Tribunal proceedings. (Id.) For now, the bulk of both collections remain in the United States. (Id.)

Attempting to enforce their judgment against Defendant Iran, Plaintiffs seek execution or attachment against the Persepolis and Chogha Mish collections. Though the FSIA ordinarily protects the property of a foreign sovereign from judgments like Plaintiffs', Plaintiffs argue that the Persepolis and Chogha Mish collections fall into the FSIA's commercial activity exception, 28 U.S.C. § 1610(a) ("Section 1610(a)"), because the collections have been used for publishing and selling books in the United States. (Pls.' Mem. in Opp. at 5-6.)

Pursuing their Section 1610(a) commercial exception theory, on May 20, 2004, Plaintiffs obtained a Citation to Discover Assets pursuant to Rule 69 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a copy of which was mailed to Citation Respondents. Following several weeks of discovery disputes, on July 6, 2004, Judge Blanche M. Manning issued a discovery order, requiring Citation Respondents to produce all documents and information requested in Plaintiffs' Citation. Unsatisfied with Citation Respondents' compliance with Plaintiffs' discovery requests or Judge Manning's Discovery Orders, on July 24, 2004, Plaintiffs moved this Court to impose contempt sanctions against Citation Respondents. That motion is still before this Court.

Since July 2004, Citation Respondents have produced for Plaintiffs information and documents pertaining to publications related to the Persepolis and Chogha Mish collections, as well as insurance documents, export declarations and correspondence between Citation Respondents and Defendant Iran. Plaintiffs continue to seek information on the names, printing costs, publication quantities, sales and net profits of all of Citations Respondents' publications (including books, journals, articles, pamphlets, photographs, etc.) concerning the Persepolis and Chogha Mish collections. Plaintiffs argue that this information is relevant to their Section 1610(a) claim and must be produced. (Id.) While the Court did not rule on the merits of Plaintiffs' discovery demands, on November 24, 2004, the Court extended Plaintiffs' May 20, 2004 Citation to Discover Assets by an additional six months.

II. Discussion

Citation Respondents argue that Plaintiffs' outstanding discovery requests are outside the scope of the Court's discovery order and are irrelevant to Plaintiffs' claims against Defendants. Accordingly, Citation Respondents move this Court to issue a discovery protective order making detailed information of sales and profits of their publications not discoverable. (Citation Resps.' Mem. at 6.)

Under Rule 26(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the scope of discovery is generally very broad, incorporating any nonprivileged documents and/or tangible things that are relevant to the subject matter involved in the action. Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(1). Requests for discovery are relevant if there is any possibility that the information sought may be relevant to the subject matter of the action. Meyer v. S. Pac. Lines, 199 F.R.D. 610, 611 (N.D.Ill.2001). Courts commonly look unfavorably upon significant restrictions placed upon the discovery process. Id. And the burden is upon the objecting party to show why a discovery request is improper. Id. at 612. It is also true, however, that open-ended fishing expeditions will not be tolerated. Discovery has limits and these limits grow more formidable as the showing of need decreases. Eggleston v. Chicago Journeymen Plumbers' Local Union No. 130, 657 F.2d 890, 904 (7th Cir.1981).

Whether Plaintiffs' discovery requests are relevant to the subject matter of this action is determined by the FSIA. Plaintiffs relied on the FSIA to establish subject matter jurisdiction over Defendants. Campuzano, et al., 281 F.Supp.2d at 261. Plaintiffs are now attempting to enforce their judgment against Defendant Iran by targeting Iranian property currently in the possession of Citation Respondents. Under the FSIA, the property of a foreign sovereign is immune from execution unless...