Court Opinion

ID: 9491926
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 14:27:57.094759+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:55:01.182175
License: Public Domain

MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from the judgment of the court.
In the first place, I would hold that relief from this judgment is simply not available under Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b)(6) because the requisite exceptional circumstances are not present. The Lundells allege nothing but an error of law, and if every error of law is sufficient to undermine a judgment, the entire doctrine of res judicata is undone.
The supposed error of constitutional law on which the court bases its relief, moreover, is not in fact an error of law: The district court that entered the default judgment performed, as our court itself admits, an analysis that comported with due process before it awarded damages. There is no constitutional right to have this process repeated if the judgment is not appealed. The court’s reliance on Honda Motor Co., Inc. v. Oberg, 512 U.S. 415, 114 S.Ct. 2331, 129 L.Ed.2d 336 (1994), is misplaced, for that case simply held that the complete absence of judicial review of punitive damage awards was unconstitutional.
Finally, even if Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b)(6) was appropriately invoked here, and even if I thought it proper to undertake a review of the punitive damages award, I would not find the award to be grossly excessive under BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore, 517 U.S. 559, 116 S.Ct. 1589, 134 L.Ed.2d 809 (1996). Cf. Dean v. Olibas, 129 F.3d 1001 (8th Cir.1997).
I would therefore reverse the judgment of the district court and remand the case for entry of judgment in the amount of the original default judgment.