Summary
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a per curiam order denying petitions for panel and en banc rehearing in a case affirming district court sanctions against lead attorneys under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 and 28 U.S.C. § 1927. The underlying dispute involved election-related claims challenging the security and tabulation methods of Arizona’s electronic voting systems. In a dissent from the denial of rehearing en banc, Judge VanDyke argued that the sanctions order was based on a misreading of the complaint and improperly sought to chill politically disfavored litigation.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the district court erred in imposing Rule 11 sanctions on the lead attorneys
- Whether the Ninth Circuit panel erred in affirming the district court’s sanctions order
- Whether the standards for sanctions were correctly applied
Holdings
- The Ninth Circuit affirmed that the district court did not err in imposing Rule 11 sanctions because the complaint was not baseless and the attorneys conducted a reasonable inquiry.
Key quotations
“Rule 11 sanctions don’t apply when the ‘pleader’ has ‘a good faith argument for his or her view of what the law is, or should be.’” (130 F.4th at 1071)
“The district court’s sanctions order was premised on the idea that the complaint falsely stated that Arizona voters do not cast paper ballots. But the complaint never said that.” (130 F.4th at 1067)
Factual background
Plaintiffs, Kari Lake and Mark Finchem, alleged that Arizona's electronic voting systems were vulnerable to hacking and sought a preliminary injunction to halt their use. The district court dismissed the case for lack of standing and sanctioned the plaintiffs' lead attorneys under Rule 11 and 28 U.S.C. §1927.
Procedural history
The district court dismissed the complaint for lack of Article III standing and imposed Rule 11 and 28 U.S.C. §1927 sanctions against lead attorneys. The Ninth Circuit panel affirmed the sanctions order. Plaintiffs sought rehearing en banc, which was denied.