Opinion ID: 471045
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Restrictions Imposed On Future Litigation

Text: 20 Judge Nickerson permanently enjoined Safir from: 21 (1) proceeding further in this action except to (a) seek appellate review by the Court of Appeals, (b) apply for certiorari to the Supreme Court, and (c) submit papers responding to applications, if any, by defendants and (2) instituting in any federal court, including bankruptcy courts, any new action, motion, petition or proceeding arising from or related to defendants' pricing practices in 1965 and 1966 or their then receipt of merchant marine subsidies. 22 On appeal, Safir contends that the injunction was improper because he is not abusing the judicial system, but only attempting in good faith to vindicate his rights through the legal process. We cannot agree. 23 That the district court possessed the authority to enjoin Safir from further vexatious litigation is beyond peradventure. 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1651(a); Abdullah v. Gatto, 773 F.2d 487, 488 (2d Cir.1985) (per curiam); In re Martin-Trigona, 737 F.2d 1254, 1262 (2d Cir.1984); In re Hartford Textile Corp., 681 F.2d 895, 897 (2d Cir.1982) (per curiam), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1206, 103 S.Ct. 1195, 75 L.Ed.2d 439 (1983); Ward v. Pennsylvania New York Central Transportation Co., 456 F.2d 1046, 1048 (2d Cir.1972). A district court not only may but should protect its ability to carry out its constitutional functions against the threat of onerous, multiplicitous, and baseless litigation. Abdullah, 773 F.2d at 488 (citing Martin-Trigona, 737 F.2d at 1262). 24 As our prior cases have indicated, the district court, in determining whether or not to restrict a litigant's future access to the courts, should consider the following factors: (1) the litigant's history of litigation and in particular whether it entailed vexatious, harassing or duplicative lawsuits; (2) the litigant's motive in pursuing the litigation, e.g., does the litigant have an objective good faith expectation of prevailing?; (3) whether the litigant is represented by counsel; (4) whether the litigant has caused needless expense to other parties or has posed an unnecessary burden on the courts and their personnel; and (5) whether other sanctions would be adequate to protect the courts and other parties. Ultimately, the question the court must answer is whether a litigant who has a history of vexatious litigation is likely to continue to abuse the judicial process and harass other parties. 25 Looking to these factors, we have no doubt that the circumstances here called for some restriction on Safir's future federal litigation. For twenty years, Safir has sought redress in the federal courts for those pricing practices of defendants which occurred in 1965 and 1966. Admittedly, some of Safir's lawsuits, far from being frivolous, were meritorious. Nevertheless, he has repeatedly asserted the same claims in slightly altered guise and has used the courts to block and hinder various business transactions of the defendants. 26 Significantly, most of Safir's claims have been resoundingly rejected by the courts. For instance, Safir failed to persuade the courts (1) that section 810 required the maritime officials to recover all subsidies paid to the violating carriers during the period of violation, Safir II, 432 F.2d at 140-42, or any subsidies paid to the non-competing carriers, id. at 145 n. 2; Safir v. Kreps, 551 F.2d 447, 453-54 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 820, 98 S.Ct. 60, 54 L.Ed.2d 76 (1977); (2) that the involved shipping lines were barred perpetually from receiving subsidies even after their unlawful conduct ceased, Safir II, 432 F.2d at 140; (3) that he was entitled to pursue a claim under the False Claims Act, Safir v. Blackwell, 579 F.2d 742, 745 (2d Cir.1978), cert. denied, 441 U.S. 943, 99 S.Ct. 2160, 60 L.Ed.2d 1044 (1979); (4) that he had standing to appeal the Secretary of Commerce's decision on the amount the subsidies properly recovered, Safir v. Dole, 718 F.2d at 479-81; or (5) that he may share in the government's recovery of subsidies on a common fund theory, id. at 480. More important, Safir has continued to assert many of these same claims after their rejection. 27 In addition, some of Safir's somewhat novel litigation tactics can only be characterized as senseless and unduly burdensome. He moved to dismiss one appeal on the ground that the defendants had conspired to bribe President Nixon to defeat his litigation. He also sought to discover the Nixon tapes in the belief that officials in the Nixon administration conspired with the defendants to prevent him from vindicating his rights. In another action, he sought to have the judge disqualified because he allegedly was a friend of President Nixon. 28 Similarly, Safir has sought collateral relief pendente lite in many of his actions, including this one, alleging that the defendants were dissipating their assets to prevent him from enforcing potential multi-million dollar judgments. In this regard, he has sought to enjoin the sale of ships, shares of stock and other assets and to have proceeds of such sales placed in escrow; to enjoin a stockholder's meeting; and to enjoin the government from paying subsidies to the defendants and from approving the sale of stock in which neither the buyer nor the seller were defendants in Safir's actions. In light of the patently meritless nature of these motions, they can be viewed only as attempts by Safir to harass the defendants. 29 Another example of such harassing and baseless litigation was more recently displayed when Safir brought involuntary bankruptcy proceedings against four of the defendants. That action was predicated on the untenable theory that because Safir was about to win prodigious judgments from the defendants, they would be unable to satisfy the claims and be forced into bankruptcy. The bankruptcy court found Safir's petition to be a clear abuse of the judicial process, and assessed costs and attorneys' fees against Safir. To date, Safir has not paid those costs or fees. 30 We therefore cannot ignore the obvious fact that mere dismissal of this action will not hinder Safir from initiating further similar proceedings. Safir's abuse of the judicial process, despite his subjective conviction that he has suffered an unremedied injury, cannot be countenanced. In addition, Safir's failure to pay costs and fees already assessed against him indicates that other types of sanctions would be unavailing. Accordingly, we hold that the district court was fully justified in permanently enjoining Safir from instituting further vexatious, harassing or repetitive proceedings arising out of the 1965-1966 pricing practices of defendants. 31 Nevertheless, the injunction, which precludes Safir from instituting any action whatsoever, is overly broad. Although we are unable to divine any relief still available to Safir arising out of, or relating to, those events, we do not wish to foreclose what might be a meritorious claim. Consequently, we modify the injunction to provide that Safir is prevented only from commencing additional federal court actions relating in any way to defendants' pricing practices or merchant marine subsidies during the 1965-1966 period without first obtaining leave of the district court. Cf. Abdullah, 773 F.2d at 488; Martin-Trigona, 737 F.2d at 1262.