THE civil lawsuit filed by Brandon M. Rangamar against the CNMI government, the Department of Public Safety, Marianas Variety and Saipan Tribune is frivolous, Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI said.
The judge dismissed with prejudice Rangamar’s Fifth and 14th Amendment claims for frivolousness, but allowed him to amend his lawsuit as to the defamation claim only.
“To the extent that Rangamar may have a potentially viable claim for defamation, he must allege sufficient facts establishing diversity jurisdiction for that claim,” the judge added.
She said if Rangamar seeks to pursue this claim, he must file a first amended complaint no later than Feb. 28, 2022. Failure to file an amended complaint by this deadline will result in the court dismissing this action with prejudice, and directing the clerk to close the case.
Rangamar, who represented himself, sued the CNMI government for “permitting a law that allows any worldwide or local entity to broadly publish damaging detailed information of crimes still pending in court.”
Rangamar, 49, said the CNMI police publicly “embarrassed me by posting my photo and damaging detailed information of my alleged crime on Facebook on April 7, 2021.”
Marianas Variety and Saipan Tribune then published the story, he added.
Rangamar asked the federal court to issue an order “correcting” the law that the CNMI government has created.
He noted that the NMI Superior Court has made multiple court dates for his case, “this was since April 7, 2021, and this has caused me and my immediate family members a lot of stress, embarrassment, loss of possible employment and loss of motivation to function as a regular citizen.”
He added, “I now live daily in fear of [the] CNMI government, CNMI police, and CNMI citizens, of possible unlawful retaliation or repercussions [for] my filing of this civil complaint in federal court,” Rangamar said.
“I ask the court to order responsible defendants to publicly apologize to my name and pay all entitled punitive or exemplary money damages. I humbly ask this court to intervene and make a quick resolution so that I may resume living a normal life, not living in embarrassment and in fear,” he added.
In her seven-page order on Friday, Judge Manglona stated: “Plaintiff asserts claims against defendants Marianas Variety News and Saipan Tribune — private actors — for publishing headlines regarding him, but fails to establish that those actions were attributed to the government.”
“Thus, as a threshold matter, the constitutional claims fail against those two defendants,” she added.
The judge likewise noted that Rangamar’s allegations that DPS embarrassed him by posting a photo and information of his alleged crime has nothing to do with double jeopardy, self-incrimination, taking of private property for public use, or any deprivation of life, liberty, or property without due process.
“His Fifth Amendment claim therefore fails against the state actors and cannot be cured by filing any amended complaint. The Fourteenth Amendment in relevant part provides for equal protection of the laws. The Fourteenth Amendment is also made applicable to the CNMI by Section 501 of the Covenant. But Rangamar alleges no facts demonstrating that he was treated unequally or that he was discriminated against. His Fourteenth Amendment claim likewise fails,” the judge stated.
In a separate order, Judge Manglona also denied Rangamar’s request to seal his complaint.
She said Rangamar has failed to identify which document he seeks the court to seal, what legal basis provides for the sealing of any documents in his case, and the duration he seeks for the sealing.
“Nor has he identified any good cause for the sealing of the entire case, and his situation does not fall under any of the exceptions to having to file a motion to seal that the court has outlined in its local rules,” the judge added.
“The only factual basis Rangamar has identified for sealing is to reduce his and his family’s stress, but reducing stress is not a compelling reason for sealing a case,” the judge added.
Rangamar filed his complaint after DPS issued a press release regarding a stalking incident on Feb. 21, 2021 and identified him as a suspect.
On April 7, 2021, a complaint and affidavit of probable cause for the issuance of an arrest warrant for Brandon M. Rangamar was prepared, and signed by Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio with a cash bail set at $7,500.
On the same date, at about 4:46 p.m., Rangamar was arrested at his residence in Chalan Laulau on the charges of disturbing the peace and stalking.
As for this case, no new information was available as of Monday afternoon.
