Opinion ID: 582746
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Was the summary judgment procedure appropriate?

Text: 13 Appellate review of a district court's summary judgment decision is de novo, but both courts apply the same standard in evaluating the merits of a summary judgment motion. 5 See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 327, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2554, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Summary judgment is appropriate if there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). Factual disputes about immaterial matters are irrelevant to a summary judgment determination. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). We view the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmovant; however, it is not enough that the nonmovant's evidence be merely colorable or anything short of significantly probative. Id. at 249-50, 106 S.Ct. at 2511. The movant need only point to those portions of the record which demonstrate an absence of a genuine issue of material fact given the relevant substantive law. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322-23, 106 S.Ct. at 2552. If a movant establishes its entitlement to judgment as a matter of law given uncontroverted, operative facts contained in the documentary evidence, summary judgment will lie. See Anderson, 477 U.S. at 251, 106 S.Ct. at 2511. See also Matsushita Elec. Indust. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986) (Where the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the nonmoving party, there is 'no genuine issue for trial.' ) (citing First Nat'l Bank v. Cities Serv. Co., 391 U.S. 253, 289, 88 S.Ct. 1575, 1592, 20 L.Ed.2d 569 (1968)). 14 A movant is not required to provide evidence negating an opponent's claim. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. at 2552. Rather, the burden is on the nonmovant, who must present affirmative evidence in order to defeat a properly supported motion for summary judgment. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 257, 106 S.Ct. at 2514. After the nonmovant has had a full opportunity to conduct discovery, this burden falls on the nonmovant even though the evidence probably is in possession of the movant. Id. In this case, the plaintiffs claim that they did not have a full opportunity for discovery. Summary judgment should not be granted where the nonmoving party has not had the opportunity to discover information that is essential to his opposition. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 250 n. 5, 106 S.Ct. at 2511 n. 5. Rule 56(f) 6 allows a nonmovant to seek deferral of a summary judgment ruling pending discovery. Before reaching the merits of the mootness issue, we must first consider Plaintiffs' claims that the district court improperly denied its Rule 56(f) motion and subsequent Rule 59(e) motion containing evidentiary material bearing on summary judgment issues. 15
16 summary judgment motion pending discovery? 17 Plaintiffs requested that the district court notify them, prior to ruling on the summary judgment motion, if it was inclined to deny their Rule 56(f) motion. In such an event, they wanted oral argument and a short period of time to submit additional affidavits or other factual material prior to the Court's ruling on summary judgment. I R. doc. 22. The district court implicitly denied the Rule 56(f) motion and granted summary judgment, all without adopting Plaintiffs' suggested procedure. 18 We review a district court's denial of a Rule 56(f) motion for an abuse of discretion. Patty Precision v. Brown & Sharpe Mfg. Co., 742 F.2d 1260, 1264 (10th Cir.1984). Unless dilatory or lacking in merit, the motion should be liberally treated. James W. Moore & Jeremy C. Wicker, Moore's Federal Practice p 56.24 (1988). A prerequisite to granting relief, however, is an affidavit furnished by the nonmovant. Pasternak v. Lear Petroleum Exploration, Inc., 790 F.2d 828, 832 (10th Cir.1986). Although the affidavit need not contain evidentiary facts, it must explain why facts precluding summary judgment cannot be presented. 10A Charles A. Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Mary Kay Kane, Federal Practice & Procedure § 2740 at 530 (1983). This includes identifying the probable facts not available and what steps have been taken to obtain these facts. See 6 Moore's Federal Practice p 56.24. In this circuit, the nonmovant also must explain how additional time will enable him to rebut movant's allegations of no genuine issue of fact. See Meyer v. Dans un Jardin, S.A., 816 F.2d 533, 537 (10th Cir.1987); Patty Precision, 742 F.2d at 1264. Plaintiffs' submission in opposition to summary judgment contained in the record, I R. doc. 22 & 23, fails both independent requirements. 19 We have considered presumably unverified statements in attorney memoranda and found them wanting as grounds for a Rule 56(f) continuance. See Dreiling v. Peugeot Motors of America, 850 F.2d 1373, 1377 (10th Cir.1988); Weir v. Anaconda, 773 F.2d 1073, 1083 (10th Cir.1985). Notwithstanding, we agree with the Third Circuit that counsel's unverified assertion in a memorandum opposing summary judgment does not comply with Rule 56(f) and results in a waiver. See Radich v. Goode, 886 F.2d 1391, 1393-95 (3rd Cir.1989). The purpose of the affidavit is to ensure that the nonmoving party is invoking the protections of Rule 56(f) in good faith and to afford the trial court the showing necessary to assess the merit of a party's opposition. First Chicago Int'l v. United Exch. Co. Ltd., 836 F.2d 1375, 1380 (D.C.Cir.1988). Advocacy by counsel does not suffice for evidence or fact in the Rule 56(f) context. Radich, 886 F.2d at 1395. 20 Defendants moved for summary judgment on November 13, 1989. Plaintiffs were granted two extensions, until December 28, 1989, to respond. On December 28, Plaintiffs provided the following unverified explanation by counsel in support of a deferred ruling: 21 In particular, certain of the defendants, including defendant Campbell, need to be deposed. Additionally, because of the intervening holiday period, plaintiffs have been unable to completely gather affidavits that will establish the long history of censorship on the campus of Oklahoma State University. These affidavits are needed to fully demonstrate the need for a permanent injunction and appropriate procedural safeguards to assure that the First Amendment will not continue to be violated. 22 I R. doc. 23 at 2. Defendants moved for summary judgment on seven grounds, including qualified immunity, 7 yet Plaintiffs provide few clues as to how the additional time would have enabled them to rebut Defendants' factual allegations 8 or establish other disputed material facts. No explanation appears as to why President Campbell's deposition was essential and little explanation appears as to why Plaintiffs could not provide affidavits of unnamed parties, other than a general reference to the holiday season. The affidavits ultimately produced concern evidence to which both parties conceivably had access. Moreover, a vague reference to a long history of censorship suggests no more than a fishing expedition in progress. If the allegation of pervasive, longstanding, recurring and institutional censorship is true, plaintiffs certainly had ample time in which to allege specific acts of censorship. See Korf v. Ball State University, 726 F.2d 1222, 1230 (7th Cir.1984). 23 The district court was not required to inform the Plaintiffs of its inclination to grant summary judgment in the absence of additional discovery and urge them to provide additional materials. Even in the absence of a properly supported request under Rule 56(f), a district court may, in the interest of justice, allow a party additional time to marshal what evidence he does have in opposition to a summary judgment motion. See 6 Moore's Federal Practice p 56.24. In these circumstances, however, we cannot conclude that the district court's procedure went beyond its allocated discretion. 24
25 judgment order in light of subsequently produced evidence? 26 As noted, Plaintiffs were unable to persuade the district court to defer its summary judgment ruling pending discovery. A related issue is whether the district court should have considered summary judgment materials subsequently produced by the Plaintiffs in their postjudgment motion to reconsider. The district court declined to undertake such reconsideration. 27 We treat Plaintiffs motion to reconsider as a motion to alter or amend the judgment because the motion was filed within ten days after the district court's order granting summary judgment and dismissing the case was entered on the docket. See Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 180-81, 83 S.Ct. 227, 229, 9 L.Ed.2d 222 (1962); Van Skiver v. United States, 952 F.2d 1241, 1243 (10th Cir.1991). The purpose for such a motion is to correct manifest errors of law or to present newly discovered evidence. Harsco Corp. v. Zlotnicki, 779 F.2d 906, 909 (3rd Cir.1985), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1171, 106 S.Ct. 2895, 90 L.Ed.2d 982 (1986). In these circumstances, we evaluate the district court's ruling on the Rule 59(e) motion for an abuse of discretion. Pasternak, 790 F.2d at 833. 28 When supplementing a Rule 59(e) motion with additional evidence, the movant must show either that the evidence is newly discovered [and] if the evidence was available at the time of the decision being challenged, that counsel made a diligent yet unsuccessful effort to discover the evidence. 29 Chery v. Bowman, 901 F.2d 1053, 1057-58 n. 6 (11th Cir.1990). See also Russ v. Int'l Paper Co., 943 F.2d 589, 593 (5th Cir.1991). 30 The district court evaluated the motion for reconsideration under a similar standard applied to a new trial motion based on newly discovered evidence. As we understand the district court's order, the proffered evidence did not warrant reconsideration because it had not been discovered subsequent to the order granting summary judgment, the Plaintiffs had not demonstrated reasonable diligence and the evidence would not produce a different result. 31 We recognize that the district court considered Plaintiffs' response in opposition to summary judgment without the later evidentiary attachments concerning alleged historical censorship. The two affidavits originally submitted in the response concern only the present film. Absent in this record, however, is an explanation of why Plaintiffs waited three months to submit additional evidence, and then as part of a Rule 59(e) motion. When one considers that Plaintiffs submitted largely historical evidence and that the affidavits submitted were not dated until March 25, 1990, it is evident that the Plaintiffs have not met their burden of showing diligence. They have not demonstrated that the evidence was newly discovered or unavailable in a more timely fashion through the exercise of diligence. 9 Plainly, the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Plaintiff's motion for reconsideration. 32