Court Opinion

ID: 9633641
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 11:55:23.270772+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:55:31.311969
License: Public Domain

SUTTON, Circuit Judge,
concurring in the judgment.
I respectfully see this case differently. Unlike the majority, I find it unnecessary to decide whether Bowles v. Russell, — U.S. -, 127 S.Ct. 2360, 168 L.Ed.2d 96 (2007), Eberhart v. United States, 546 U.S. 12, 126 S.Ct. 403, 163 L.Ed.2d 14 (2005), and Kontrick v. Ryan, 540 U.S. 443, 124 S.Ct. 906, 157 L.Ed.2d 867 (2004), compel us to determine that Rule 59(e) is a claim-processing rule. I instead believe we should adhere to the straightforward practice we have long employed when faced with an untimely Rule 59(e) motion — which is to construe the motion as a timely-filed Rule 60(b) motion. See Feathers v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc., 141 F.3d 264, 268 (6th Cir.1998) (“Where a party’s Rule 59 motion is not filed within the mandatory 10-day period, it is appropriate for a court to consider the motion as a motion pursuant to Rule 60 for relief from judgment.”); see also, e.g., Peake v. First Nat’l Bank & Trust Co. of Marquette, 717 F.2d 1016, 1020 (6th Cir.1983); Lommen v. McIntyre, 125 Fed.Appx. 655, 658-59 (6th Cir.2005); White-Bey v. McMeekin, No. 98-2162, 1999 WL 1045106, at *1 (6th Cir. Nov.10, 1999); Parker v. Wilkinson, No. 98-3611, *4821999 WL 435150, at *1 (6th Cir. June 17, 1999); Jobete Music Co., Inc. v. Holland, No. 90-1664, 1991 WL 105750, at *2-3 (6th Cir. June 18, 1991); Beerbower v. United States, No. 85-1034, 1986 WL 16750, at *1 (6th Cir. Mar.14, 1986).
If we construe the appellants’ Rule 59(e) motion as a Rule 60(b) motion, we have jurisdiction to hear the appeal from the district court’s denial of that motion. The district court denied the motion on January 6, 2006 and WTRBA and TDEC filed their notice of appeal on March 3, 2006, which is within 60 days of the entry of the district court’s order. See Fed. R.App. P. 4(a)(1)(B) (“When the United States ... is a party, the notice of appeal may be filed ... within 60 days after the judgment or order appealed from is entered.”). We do not, however, have jurisdiction to review the underlying judgment. See Browder v. Dir., Dep’t of Corr., 434 U.S. 257, 263 n. 7, 98 S.Ct. 556, 54 L.Ed.2d 521 (1978) (“[A]n appeal from [the] denial of Rule 60(b) relief does not bring up the underlying judgment for review.”); GenCorp, Inc. v. Olin Corp., 477 F.3d 368, 373 (6th Cir.2007).
We review the district court’s denial of a Rule 60 motion for abuse of discretion. Doe v. Lexington-Fayette Urban Co. Gov’t, 407 F.3d 755, 760 (6th Cir.2005). The order reads in its entirety:
This matter is before the Court on the motion of the West Tennessee River Basin Authority (“WTRBA”) and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (“TDEC”), acting through the Tennessee Attorney General and Reporter, to alter or amend the Court’s November 23, 2005 Order denying WTRBA’s and TDEC’s Motion for Clarification of May 13, 1985 Agreed Order. The Court, having considered the motion, the responses to the motion filed by other parties to this matter, and the record as a whole, has determined that the motion to alter or amend is not well taken and should be DENIED.
D. Ct. Order at 1. This two-sentence order — one sentence of which merely summarizes the procedural posture of the case, the other of which merely states a conclusion — makes it difficult, if not impossible, to conduct any meaningful review of the decision. Given both the lengthy history of the case and its complexity, I would remand the case to the district court with instructions to provide an explanation for its denial of the appellants’ motion.