Viola Coppola, et al v. Gregory Smith, et al

Filing 158

ORDER DIRECTING the Clerk of the Court to Send the Parties the Court's Standard Form to Consent or Decline to Magistrate Judge Jurisdiction; ORDER REQUIRING the Parties to Return the Forms Within Ten Days, signed by District Judge Anthony W. Ishii on 12/3/13. (Hellings, J)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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VIOLA COPPOLA, et al.,

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Plaintiffs

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v.

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GREGORY SMITH, et al.,

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Defendants

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_____________________________________

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CASE NO. 1:11-CV-1257 AWI BAM
ORDER DIRECTING THE CLERK OF
THE COURT TO SEND THE PARTIES
THE COURT’S STANDARD FORM TO
CONSENT TO OR DECLINE
MAGISTRATE JUDGE JURISDICTION
ORDER REQUIRING THE PARTIES
TO RETURN THE FORMS WITHIN
TEN DAYS

AND RELATED CLAIMS

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Out of fairness, the Court believes it is necessary to forewarn litigants that the Fresno
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Division of the Eastern District of California now has the heaviest District Judge caseload in the
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entire nation. While the Court will use its best efforts to resolve this case and all other civil cases
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in a timely manner, the parties are admonished that not all of the parties’ needs and expectations

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may be met as expeditiously as desired.
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The Court’s trial schedule is being filled, often with multiple cases being set for the same

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date. The law requires the Court give any criminal case priority over civil trials and other matters,
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and the Court must proceed with criminal trials even if a civil trial is older or was set earlier. If
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multiple trials are scheduled to begin on the same day, a civil trial will trail day to day or week to
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week until completion of any criminal case or older civil case. Although no trial date has been set
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in this case, this case may be scheduled with other case. It is therefore possible that this case will
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be subject to trailing, and the parties will have little notice before a trial would actually begin.
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The parties are reminded of the availability of a United States Magistrate Judge to conduct
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all proceedings in this action. A United States Magistrate Judge is available to conduct trials,
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including entry of final judgment, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 28 U.S.C. 636(c), Federal Rule of Civil
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Procedure 73, and Local Rule 305. The Court will direct the Clerk of the Court to provide the

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parties with the Court’s standard form to consent to or decline Magistrate Judge jurisdiction.

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Within ten days of this order’s date of service, the parties shall either consent to or decline

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Magistrate Judge jurisdiction by filling out the requisite forms and returning them to the Court.

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The parties are advised that the same jury pool is used by both United States Magistrate Judges

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and United States Article III District Court Judges. Any appeal from a judgment entered by a

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United States Magistrate Judge is taken directly to the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth

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Circuit.

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Further, for the parties’ information, the Fresno Division, whenever possible, is utilizing

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United States Article III District Court Judges from throughout the country as Visiting Judges. It

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is possible that this case may be reassigned to a Visiting Judge at some point in the future.

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Pursuant to the Local Rules, Appendix A, such reassignments will be random, and the parties will

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receive no advance notice before their case is reassigned to an Article III District Court Judge

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from outside of the Eastern District of California.

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Finally, the parties are hereby informed that no substantive rulings or decisions will be
affected by whether a party chooses to consent to Magistrate Judge jurisdiction

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.

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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

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1.

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The Clerk is DIRECTED to provide the parties with the forms that will allow them

to consent to or decline Magistrate Judge Jurisdiction; and
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Within ten days from the service of this order, the parties shall notify the Court

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whether they consent to or decline Magistrate Judge jurisdiction by filling out the enclosed forms

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and returning them to the Court.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: December 3, 2013
SENIOR DISTRICT JUDGE

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