PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATIONBlank

ABORTION INDUSTRY IN MELBOURNE, FLORIDA
LAWSUITS
RANEY V AWARE WOMAN
DOCKET / CHRONOLOGICAL FILE
PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
ORLANDO DIVISION

MEREDITH T. RANEY, JR.,
Plaintiff,
v.
AWARE WOMAN CENTER
FOR CHOICE, INC., a Florida corporation,
EDWARD W. WINDLE, JR., and
PATRICIA B. WINDLE
Defendants.

CASE NO.: 97-1197-CV-ORL-19B

MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION OF THE MAGISTRATE'S DENIAL OF PLAINTIFF'S MOTION TO COMPEL DISCOVERY AND MEMORANDUM OF SUPPORT THEREOF

COMES NOW Plaintiff, Meredith T. Raney, Jr., by and through counsel, and pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §636(A) and (C) and moves this Honorable Court to reconsider the Magistrate's denial of Plaintiffs Motion to Compel Discovery:
1. Undersigned counsel is obligated by Local Rule 3.01 (g) to make a good faith effort to resolve the issues propounded here through prior negotiation with opposing counsel; this has been attempted without success and undersigned counsel hereby certifies that a good faith effort to comply with the aforesaid Local Rule has been made.
2. Plaintiff, Meredith T. Raney, Jr. filed has filed his Complaint that seeks, inter
alia, punitive damages against Defendants for three violations of Plaintiff s rights under 18 U.S.C.A.§248 (FACE).
3. Plaintiff has tendered written discovery upon all Defendants seeking answers which are reasonably calculated to lead to discovery of admissible evidence. Defendant's responses to these discovery requests were incomplete.
4. Defendants failed to completely provide the answers requested.
5. Despite Counsel for Plaintiff's efforts to obtain responses, Defendants have
refused to comply.
6. In an Order signed by Magistrate David A. Baker on May 13, 1998, Plaintiff's Motions to Compel were denied.
7. Denial of Plaintiffs discovery requests are inconsistent with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and impermissibly impede Plaintiffs ability to meaningfully prosecute the claims set out in the Complaint.
8. As regards punitive damages, the Magistrate has incorrectly ruled that such discovery is premature.
9. The Magistrate's denial of Plaintiff s Motions to Compel is clearly erroneous and contrary to the governing Rules and law.
10. Plaintiff requested additional information in the three sets of Interrogatories which additionally was not furnished and which was brought to the attention of the Court in the Motion To Compel but which seems to have been overlooked in the Order denying the various Motions To Compel; this information sought to be discovered consists of the following items:
a. Means of determining the identity and location of witnesses as to the dimension and services of the present reproductive health service facilities.
b. Opportunities and limitations on the part of Defendants and others to witness the events and testify to the elements of this case.
c. Means of identifying and locating non-employee witnesses.
11. Plaintiff at this time does not feel that it is critical to obtain the residential addresses and telephone numbers of the facility employees.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff moves this Court to grant Plaintiff's Motions To Compel Discovery, with the exception for the time being of residential information about current facility employees, and to award the costs and attorney's fees of bringing this Motion as well as the underlying Motions To Compel.

MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF FOREGOING MOTION

Meredith T. Raney, Jr., the Plaintiff, by and through his undersigned attorney, hereby files this Memorandum In Support of Foregoing Motion saying:

ATTEMPT TO RESOLVE

1. Local Rule 3.01 (g) requires a certificate of good faith that counsel has attempted a negotiated resolution of these issues prior to filing the aforesaid Motion. This has been done.

LOCAL RULES

2. Local Rules require the filing of a Memorandum in support of a motion such as the present one; thus the present Memorandum is hereby submitted.

REASONS

3. The Motions To Compel Discovery should be reconsidered because of prejudicial errors and oversights made by the Magistrate which should upon reconsideration result in the granting of Plaintiff's Motions To Compel. Those reasons are stated hereafter.

BRENNAN

4. The U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, ruled in Brennan v. City Of Minneola 723 F. Supp. 1442 (M.D. Fla. 1989) that the request for punitive damages should not in any way be delayed in a federal civil rights case. In that case, the Defendant had moved for dismissal of Plaintiff's request for punitive damages as premature because Florida Statute §768.72 requires a preliminary determination before pleading and discovery of punitive damages. Ruling that this statute did not effect federal causes of action, Judge Melton refused to dismiss the pleading. Here the request for punitive damages is not premature and discovery thereon is timely.

NOT IN MOTION TO DISMISS

5. The Magistrate, in deferring discovery of various aspects of the requested punitive damages, overlooked the existing pleadings and the fact that the request for punitive damages was not challenged in the previous Motion To Dismiss. This issue is properly before the Court at this time and there was no reason to delay discovery.

CASE MANAGEMENT

6. The Case Management Report and the Case Management Order anticipate that discovery of all issues will take place simultaneously and not in some bifurcated or separated manner. Discovery of the various aspects of the measure of punitive damages has not been premature.

NOT IN LAW

7. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules and the provisions of 18 U.S.C.A. §248 make no provision for a split determination as to punitive damages and to the discovery of information relating to punitive damages.

AMOUNT AND ELEMENT OF PUNITIVE DAMAGES

At 25 Corpus Juris Secundem, Damages § 126(l), it states:

"There is no fixed standard for the measurement of exemplary or punitive damages; the amount of the award is a matter largely within the discretion of the jury or of the court sitting without a jury, on due consideration of the attendant circumstances." (page 1159)

THE IMPORTANCE OF IMPORTANCE

8. To point out an instance of the importance of importance, please consider the effect of the wrongful destruction of photographs with little sentimental value as opposed to the destruction of a solitary set of wedding photographs treasured by a loving widow. It is obvious that as importance of the proscribed conduct increases, so does the need for the amount of punitive damages to likewise increase.

IMPORTANCE TO MEREDITH T. RANEY, JR.

9. Meredith T. Raney, Jr. is a born-again Christian who believes that the Holy Bible contains the inspired word of God. Part of that Word tells Meredith T. Raney, Jr. that what he does to help the smallest of his brothers and sisters, he does for his Savior, Jesus Christ. He is further commanded to love his neighbor just as Jesus Christ loves him. It is extremely important to Meredith T. Raney, Jr. that he be allowed to express this love and duty as a reproductive health service counselor at 1564 Dixie Way, Melbourne, Florida and the testimony and evidence needed to show the importance of this mission were properly sought in his Motions To Compel as measures of the appropriate amounts of punitive damages.

IMPORTANCE TO UNBORN CHILDREN

10. The ink was drying when Caesar Rodney set down the quill pen with which he had just signed the Declaration of Independence and the celebration started there in Philadelphia almost two hundred and twenty-two years ago. We have continued each Fourth of July to celebrate this event, but we temporarily have forgotten that this, our very first statement of legal rights as a nation, proclaims that each and every person receives an inalienable right to life from God at the moment of our creation. This forgetfulness has resulted in the present ironic condition where the cruel destruction of unborn children is referred to by the Courts and Congress as a 'reproductive health service'. It is then a true matter of life and death that the unborn children brought to the present facility be given the opportunity for adoption and long life as sought by the Plaintiff. Any evidence or testimony regarding this opportunity, or lack thereof, is properly a measure of the punitive damages to be awarded.

IMPORTANCE TO THE PARENTS

11. The parents of unborn children coming to this facility are protected under 18 U.S.C.A. §248 as is the Plaintiff, Meredith T. Raney, Jr. The truth about possible harm to themselves and their child, the spiritual, moral, physical, emotional, and medical truths about all aspects of the services available or not available at this facility, including adoption, are extremely important to the mothers and fathers. All evidence and testimony relating to these various aspects should be available to the Plaintiff as a measure of the punitive damages to be awarded.

IMPORTANCE TO SOCIETY

12. The owner and operator of a cocktail lounge would probably resent and seek to obstruct the efforts of one who warned motorists stopping in for alcoholic drinks that they should avoid drinking and then driving a motor vehicle. Such advice and counsel would be bad for the cocktail business. However, such advice and activity is beneficial to society and its need for protection of all of its members. Thus the importance of Meredith T. Raney, Jr.'s activity as a reproductive health counselor is an appropriate measure of punitive damages and all discoverable evidence and testimony should be obtainable as a measure of the punitive damages as sought in the contested portions of the pertinent interrogatories.

IMPORTANCE OF MESSAGE

13. Had the minions of the king prevented Paul Revere from telling the truth about what was happening on nights when there was no threat, then perhaps only Revere himself would have been hurt. On the night of his famous ride, Revere had much to expose and it was important to all that the truth be heard. It is necessary for the complete truth about the horrors, dangers and injuries at this facility, the entire truth, be revealed to the jury so it can properly measure the punitive damages. This information includes that sought in the various interrogatories and later the various motions to compel. Dangerous mistreatment of customers at the facility is, indeed, a measure of punitive damages here.

ADDRESSES NECESSARY

14. The residences of current facility personnel may be unnecessary at this point; addresses and telephone numbers of the other witnesses should have been provided. These items were apparently overlooked by the Magistrate.

PERSONS AND EVIDENCE PROVING ELEMENTS OF THE CASE

15. Persons having knowledge as to the dimensions and uses of such facilities should be revealed, together with their addresses and phone numbers save for the residences of current personnel. This would be true of trade, professional and business organizations relating to reproductive health services, the identities of which are sought.

WHEREFORE, the Court should reconsider the various Motions To Compel and grant all relief sought in the foregoing Motion.

Respectfully submitted,
Christopher F. Sapp <signed>
Post Office 1012
Lehigh Acres, Florida 33970
Florida Bar Number 0097823
Attorney for Meredith T. Raney, Jr.

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing has been furnished by U.S. Mail to Vincent G. Torpy, Jr., Esquire 930 S. Harbor City Blvd., Suite 505, Melbourne, Florida 32901, to Roy Lucas, Esquire, P. 0. Box 1433, Melbourne, Florida 32902-1433 and to Susan A. England, Esquire, 2805 Lakeview Drive, Ferndale, Florida 32730-2007, this 1st day of June, 1998.

Christopher F. Sapp <signed>
Attorney