Sieverding v. American Bar Ass'n

• Decision Date: 17 July 2006
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 05-1283 (RMU).
• Citation: 439 F.Supp.2d 111
• Parties: Kay SIEVERDING et al., Plaintiffs, v. AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

439 F.Supp.2d 111

Kay SIEVERDING et al., Plaintiffs, v. AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 05-1283 (RMU).

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

July 17, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

David Sieverding, Verona, WI, pro se.

Kay Sieverding, Verona, WI, pro se.

Tom Sieverding, Verona, WI, pro se.

Ed Sieverding, Verona, WI, pro se.

Carolyn Beth Lamm, Frank Panopoulos, White & Case, LLP, Jerome Charles Schaefer, O'Brien, Butler, McConihe & Schaefer, PLLC, Washington, DC, Danielle Moore, Office of the Attorney General, Denver, CO, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

URBINA, District Judge.

GRANTING THE DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS TO DISMISS

I. INTRODUCTION

This matter comes before the court on the defendants' motions to dismiss. The pro se plaintiffs, the Sieverding family, bring an independent action¹ to set aside two adverse judgments on the basis of fraud. The first judgment that the plaintiffs wish to set aside is a restraining order issued by the Routt County Court against plaintiff Kay Sieverding. The second judgment is an order of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado sanctioning the plaintiffs under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, dismissing their case with prejudice, and enjoining the plaintiffs from further litigation on issues relating to the same transaction or series of transactions without counsel. Defendant American Bar Association ("ABA") moves to dismiss the case against it pursuant to several doctrines, including the doctrine of res judicata. Defendant Routt County Court moves to dismiss the case for failure to state a claim. Jane Bennett, Faegre & Benson LLP, Hall and Evans LLC, The World Company, McConnell Siderius Fleischner Houghtaling & Craigmile LLC, and White & Steele, P.C (the "Personal Jurisdiction Defendants") move to dismiss the claims against them for lack of personal jurisdiction. Because res judicata bars the plaintiffs' suit against the ABA, the court grants the ABA's motion to dismiss. Because the plaintiffs fail to state a claim against defendant Routt County Court, the court grants that defendant's motion to dismiss. Because the plaintiffs fail to plead facts establishing personal jurisdiction over the Personal Jurisdiction Defendants, the court grants those defendants' motion to dismiss.

II. BACKGROUND

A. Factual History

This case grows out of a heated property dispute between neighbors in Steamboat, Colorado. Am. Compl. at 7-8. In 1992, the Bennett family erected a fence around their property that claimed part of a road adjacent to the plaintiffs' home.² Id. The plaintiffs objected to what they perceived as zoning violations. Tensions between the families escalated, culminating ultimately in the issuance of a restraining order against Kay Sieverding. Am. Compl. at 7. The plaintiffs seek relief from this order and judgments from related judicial proceedings. Id. at 7, 26.

B. Procedural History

The plaintiffs brought suits regarding the restraining order in at least two state court actions and five federal court actions. Def. ABA's Mot. to Dismiss at 3-5. In their suit in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado before Magistrate Judge Schlatter, the plaintiffs brought suit against all of the defendants in this case.³ Sieverding et al. v. Colo. Bar Ass'n et al., 2003 WL 22400218 (D.Colo. Oct.14, 2003) (unpublished opinion). After a painstakingly thorough review of the plaintiffs'"verbose, prolix, and impossible to understand" complaint,⁴ Magistrate Judge Schlatter recommended that the court sanction the plaintiffs, dismiss the case with prejudice and enjoin the plaintiffs from further litigating issues based on the transactions or series of transactions underlying the case, unless represented by counsel. Id. at *1. Judge Nottingham of the district court adopted Magistrate Judge Schlatter's recommendations in full. Order, Civ. No. 02-1950 (D.Colo. Mar. 19, 2004) ("Order Accepting Magistrate Judge's Recommendation") at 3. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's decision. Sieverding et al. v. Colo. Bar Ass'n, 126 Fed.Appx. 457, 459 (10th Cir. Apr.22, 2005) (unpublished opinion). In response to the Tenth Circuit's ruling, the plaintiffs have filed suits in numerous courts across the nation, in some cases filing multiple suits in the same court.

On June 27, 2005, the plaintiffs brought an independent action in this court to set aside the Routt County Court and district court of Colorado judgments on the basis of fraud. Am. Compl. at 6. The plaintiffs contend that the various defendants violated the law through "extortion, lying about the facts and laws, attempting to bring about wrongful incarceration, first amendment retaliation, abuse of process, and civil conspiracy under 42 U.S.C. § 1983." Id. The plaintiffs also seek an injunction against defendant The World Company from further publishing articles regarding the Sieverding-Bennett property dispute on the internet. Id. at 70. The ABA moves to dismiss the case pursuant to the doctrine of res judicata and for failure to state a claim. The Routt County Court moves to dismiss the case for failure to state a claim. The Personal Jurisdiction Defendants move to dismiss the claims against them for lack of personal jurisdiction. The court now turns to the defendants' motions to dismiss.

III. ANALYSIS

A. The Court Grants Defendant ABA's Motion to Dismiss

Defendant ABA argues that the doctrine of res judicata bars this action because the plaintiffs have litigated similar claims against the ABA based on similar facts in the district of Colorado action. Def. ABA's Mot. to Dismiss at 9. According to the ABA, the plaintiffs concede that the present suit is an extension of the same series of events described in the complaint filed in the United States District Court for Colorado. Id. In response, the plaintiffs argue that res judicata does not bar this action because the previous proceedings did not comply with due process and the judgment was fraudulent. Pls.' Opp'n to Defs.' Mots. to Dismiss at 7.

1. Legal Standard for Res Judicata

"The doctrine of res judicata prevents repetitious litigation involving the same causes of action or the same issues." I.A.M. Nat'l Pension Fund v. Indus. Gear Mfg. Co., 723 F.2d 944, 946 (D.C.Cir.1983). Res judicata has two distinct aspects— claim preclusion and issue preclusion (commonly known as collateral estoppel)—that apply in different circumstances and with different consequences to the litigants. Next Wave Pers. Commc'n, Inc. v. Fed. Commc'n Comm'n, 254 F.3d 130, 142 (D.C.Cir.2001); Novak v. World Bank, 703 F.2d 1305, 1309 (D.C.Cir.1983). Under claim preclusion, "a final judgment on the merits of an action precludes the parties or their privies from relitigating issues that were or could have been raised in that action." Drake v. Fed. Aviation Admin., 291 F.3d 59, 66 (D.C.Cir.2002) (quoting Allen v. McCurry, 449 U.S. 90, 94, 101 S.Ct. 411, 66 L.Ed.2d 308 (1980)). Under issue preclusion or collateral estoppel, "once a court has decided an issue of fact or law necessary to its judgment, that decision may preclude relitigation of the issue in a suit on a different cause of action involving a party to the first case." Yamaha Corp. of Am. v. United States, 961 F.2d 245, 254 (D.C.Cir.1992) (quoting Allen, 449 U.S. at 94, 101 S.Ct. 411). In short, "claim preclusion forecloses all that which might have been litigated previously," while issue preclusion "prevents the relitigation of any issue that was raised and decided in a prior action." I.A.M. Nat'l Pension Fund, 723 F.2d at 949; Novak, 703 F.2d at 1309. In this way, res judicata helps "conserve judicial resources, avoid inconsistent results, engender respect for judgments of predictable and certain effect, and [] prevent serial forumshopping and piecemeal litigation." Hardison v. Alexander, 655 F.2d 1281, 1288 (D.C.Cir.1981); see also Allen, 449 U.S. at 94, 101 S.Ct. 411.

2. The Plaintiffs' Claims Against Defendant ABA are Barred by Res Judicata

The plaintiffs are barred from bringing this suit under the principles of claim preclusion for a number of reasons. First, the ABA was a party in the plaintiffs' suits in the district court for Colorado and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Sieverding et al., 2003 WL 22400218, at *1; Sieverding et al., 126 Fed.Appx. at 459. Res judicata bars a subsequent suit between the same parties where the two suits "share a common nucleus of facts." Apotex, Inc. v. Food & Drug Admin., 393 F.3d 210, 212 (D.C.Cir.2004).

Second, in each action, the plaintiffs litigated their claim to a final judgment on the merits. Sieverding et al., 2003 WL 22400218, at *1; Order Accepting Magistrate Judge's Recommendation at 3; Sieverding et al., 126 Fed.Appx. at 459. A dismissal for failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted under Rule 12(b)(6) is a "a resolution on the merits and is ordinarily prejudicial." Polsby v. Thompson, 201 F.Supp.2d 45, 49 (D.D.C. 2002) (citing Okusami v. Psychiatric Inst. of Wash., Inc., 959 F.2d 1062, 1066 (D.C.Cir.1992); Federated Dep't Stores, Inc. v. Moitie, 452 U.S. 394, 399, 101 S.Ct. 2424, 69 L.Ed.2d 103 (1981)). Because Judge Nottingham dismissed the plaintiffs' claims against the ABA under Rule 12(b)(6), his judgment serves as a judgment on the merits for purposes of res judicata. Polsby, 201 F.Supp.2d at 49.

Third, the plaintiffs' complaint in this court is based on the same series of events as the complaint in the district court of Colorado. U.S. Indus., Inc. v. Blake Constr. Co., 765 F.2d 195, 205 (D.C.Cir. 1985). For example, the plaintiffs claim that the ABA contributed to the fraud in the Routt County Court action through various acts and omissions. Am. Compl. at 6. The plaintiffs also argue that the defendants' refusal to stipulate facts, their alleged ex-parte contact with Judge Nottingham, and their alleged request to have Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 "susp...