United States of America v. Maricopa, County of et al

Filing 20

NOTICE re Filing of Motion to Transfer Case by United States of America. (Attachments: # 1 Filed Motion to Transfer Case, # 2 Filed Proposed Order For Motion to Transfer Case)(Aminfar, Amin)

United States of America v. Maricopa, County of et al

Doc. 20 Att. 1

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Thomas E. Perez Assistant Attorney General Dennis K. Burke United States Attorney Roy L. Austin, Jr. (IL Bar #6228785) Matthew Colangelo (NY Bar #4228797) Peter S. Gray (DC Bar #940031) Laurie A. Gelman (VA Bar #47743) Amin Aminfar (NC Bar #36589) U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20530 (ph) 202-514-6225 / (fax) 202-514-4883 (email) [e-mail] Michael M. Walker (AZ Bar #20315) Assistant U.S. Attorney Two Renaissance Square 40 North Central Avenue, Suite 1200 Phoenix, AZ 85004-4408 (ph) 602-514-7500 / (fax) 602-514-7760 (email) [e-mail] Attorneys for the United States UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

Manuel de Jesus Ortega Melendres, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Joseph M. Arpaio, et al., Defendants.

No. 2:07-cv-02513-PHX-GMS No. 2:10-cv-01878-PHX-LOA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA'S MOTION TO TRANSFER (No. 2:10-cv-01878 assigned to the Honorable Lawrence O. Anderson)

Pursuant to Local Rule 42.1(a), plaintiff, the United States of America, moves to transfer the related case of United States v. Maricopa County (No. 2:10-cv-1878-PHXLOA), filed on September 2, 2010, and pending before the Honorable Lawrence O.

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Anderson, to this Court. United States involves matters similar to those presented in Melendres v. Arpaio (No. 2:07-cv-02513-PHX-GMS), which is pending before this Court. Under Local Rule 42.1(a), this Court may exercise its discretion to transfer a related case to a single judge where, among other factors, the Court determines that the two cases "for any other reason would entail substantial duplication of labor if heard by different Judges." A motion to transfer "shall be filed in the case with the lowest case number assigned to a District Judge who shall hear and decide the motion." LRCiv 42.1(a). Transfer is appropriate based on any one of the factors listed in Local Rule 42.1(a). See Gagan v. Estate of Sharar, 2008 WL 2810978, at *3 (D. Ariz. July 18, 2008). The plaintiff in United States seeks to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Title VI implementing regulations issued by the United States Department of Justice, and related contractual assurances. The United States seeks declaratory and injunctive relief against Maricopa County, Arizona; the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office ("MCSO"); and Sheriff Joseph M. Arpaio. The United States seeks to compel the defendants to cooperate with its investigation of alleged national origin discrimination by providing access to documents and other sources of information that have been unlawfully withheld. See First Am. Complaint (filed Sept. 13, 2010, in Case No. 2:10-cv-01878-PHX-LOA). The plaintiffs in Melendres seek declaratory and injunctive relief against MCSO and Sheriff Joseph M. Arpaio. The Melendres plaintiffs allege causes of action for discriminatory police practices in violation of Title VI, the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and Article II § 8 of the Arizona Constitution. Transfer is proper because of the potential for substantial duplication of labor that may be involved if United States and Melendres are heard by different Judges. This Court is familiar with the extent of MCSO's compliance with its discovery obligations

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in Melendres, including ongoing disagreements between the Melendres parties regarding the existence and production of relevant documents. See, e.g., Doc. Nos. 261, 337, and 348 in Case No. 2:07-cv-02513-PHX-GMS. As indicated in the United States' motion for summary judgment, filed today in United States, MCSO has contended that its obligation to cooperate with the United States' investigation is satisfied in part by documents already produced in Melendres. See Pl.'s Mem. Supp. Summ. J. (filed Sept. 13, 2010, in Case No. 2:10-cv-01878-PHX-LOA). Although the obligation to provide access to sources of information under Title VI is distinct from obligations that a party in litigation has under Rules 26 to 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, this Court's familiarity with the Melendres record may assist in determining the extent to which the Melendres production satisfies some portion of MCSO's obligation to cooperate with the United States' Title VI investigation, if at all. See, e.g., Parra v. Bashas' Inc., 2009 WL 1024615, at *3-5 (D. Ariz. Apr. 15, 2009) (granting a motion to transfer under Local Rule 42.1(a) where, among other reasons, judicial economy would be served because of the Court's familiarity with documents and information produced in the earlier-filed case). Accordingly, the United States respectfully requests that the Court grant the Motion to Transfer this case. Dated: September 13, 2010 Respectfully submitted, Thomas E. Perez Assistant Attorney General Dennis K. Burke United States Attorney /s/ Amin Aminfar Roy L. Austin, Jr. (IL Bar #6228785) Matthew Colangelo (NY Bar #4228797) Peter S. Gray (DC Bar #940031) Laurie A. Gelman (VA Bar #47743) Amin Aminfar (NC Bar #36589)

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U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20530 (ph) 202-514-6255 / (fax) 202-514-4883 (email) [e-mail] Michael M. Walker (AZ Bar #20315) Assistant U.S. Attorney Two Renaissance Square 40 North Central Avenue, Suite 1200 Phoenix, AZ 85004-4408 (ph) 602-514-7500 / (fax) 602-514-7760 (email) [e-mail] Attorneys for the United States

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on September 13, 2010, I electronically transmitted the

3 UNITED STATES' MOTION TO TRANSFER to the Clerk's Office using the CM/ECF 4 System for filing and transmitted a Notice of Electronic Filing to the following attorneys 5 who are CM/ECF registrants: 6 Attorneys for Plaintiff 7 Andrew Carl Byrnes, Esq. [e-mail] 8 Stanley Young, Esq. [e-mail] 9 Stephen C. Chien, Esq. [e-mail] 10 Tammy Albarran, Esq. [e-mail] 11 COVINGTON & BURLING, LLP 12 Daniel Pochoda, Esq. [e-mail] 13 Anne Lai, Esq. [e-mail] 14 ACLU FOUNDATION OF ARIZONA 15 Cecilia D. Wang, Esq. [e-mail] 16 Robin Lisa Goldfaden, Esq. [e-mail] 17 AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION 18 Nancy Ramirez, Esq. [e-mail] 19 Gladys Limon, Esq. [e-mail] 20 MEXICAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND 21 22 Attorneys for Defendants 23 Alec R. Hillbo, Esq. [e-mail] 24 Kerry Scott Martin, Esq. [e-mail] 25 L. Eric Dowell, Esq. [e-mail] 26 OGLETREE, DEAKINS, NASH, SMOAK & STEWART, P.C. 27 28

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1 Attorneys for Defendant Sheriff Joseph Arpaio 2 Thomas P. Liddy [e-mail] 3 Maria R. Brandon [e-mail] 4 Attorneys for Maricopa County 5 David A. Selden 6 [e-mail] Julie A. Pace 7 [e-mail] 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 /s/ Amin Aminfar