Opinion
MBD No. 18-mc-91505-NMG
06-04-2019
IN RE PETITION FOR LEAVE TO FILE BY ENJOINED LITIGANT
ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM JUDGMENT GORTON, J.
By Memorandum and Order dated April 3, 2019, the Court denied pro se litigant Precious Okereke leave to initiate a new civil action. See Docket No. 3. The Court explained that Okereke failed to comply with the filing requirements outlined in the Court's September 19, 2012 Memorandum and Order entered in Okereke v. Boston Police Hackney Div., C.A. No. 11-11626-RWZ (D. Mass. Sept. 19, 2012).
Now before the Court is Okereke's pro se motion seeking relief from judgment pursuant to Rule 60(b)(4) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule. See Docket No. 4. Okereke challenges the validity of 2012 pre-filing Order and seeks to have the case reinstated. Id.
A motion for reconsideration does not provide a "vehicle for a party to undo its own procedural failures and it certainly does not allow a party to introduce new evidence or advance arguments that could or should have been presented to the district court prior to the judgment." Marks 3-Zet-Ernst Marks GMGH & Co. KG v. Presstek, Inc., 455 F.3d 7, 15-16 (1st Cir. 2006). Although Rule 60(b)(4) provides relief from judgments that are void, such a motion is not a substitute for a timely appeal. See Wendt v. Leonard, 431 F.3d 410, 412 (4th Cir. 2005)(The concept of "void" is narrowly construed because of the threat to finality of judgments and the risk that pro se plaintiffs who have a history of bringing vexatious suits "will use Rule 60(b)(4) to circumvent an appeal process they elected not to follow.").
Okereke fails to show that the 2012 Order is "void" within the meaning of Rule 60(b)(4) and her motion does not alter the Court's conclusion that she failed to comply with the filing requirements outlined in the 2012 pre-filing Order entered in Okereke v. Boston Police Hackney Div., C.A. No. 11-11626-RWZ.
Accordingly, Okereke's motion (Docket No. 4) is DENIED.
So ordered.
/s/ Nathaniel M. Gorton
Nathaniel M. Gorton
United States District Judge Dated: June 4, 2019