Ramirez v. Bakersfield Police Dept., et al.

Filing 22

ORDER to Plaintiff to File a Consent or Decline Form Within 10 Days, signed by Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on 11/18/2014. Status Conference re Consent / Initial Scheduling Conference set for 11/21/2014 at 09:30 AM is VACATED. (Attachments: # 1 Consent / Decline Form)(Hall, S)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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ANTONIO RAMIREZ, JR.,
Plaintiff,

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v.
BAKERSFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT,
et al.,

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Defendants.
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Case No.: 1:14-cv-00978 --- JLT
ORDER TO PLAINTIFF TO FILE A
CONSENT OR DECLINE FORM WITHIN 10
DAYS

Currently set before the Court is a status conference re: consent set for November 21, 2014.

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However, because Plaintiff is incarcerated and the defendants have filed their consent forms already,

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the status conference is VACATED. In addition, Plaintiff is ORDERED to file his consent or decline

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to the jurisdiction of the Magistrate Judge within 10 days. To allow Plaintiff to make informed

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decision about whether to grant his consent, the Court provides him the following information:

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For nearly every year over the last decade, the Eastern District of California has carried the

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highest weighted caseload of any district in the entire federal system. The judges carry caseloads

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which are more than double the national average. The causes for this are many-fold. First, over the last

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30 years, California’s population has expanded significantly and many of these people live in this

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District. Likewise, numerous prisons have been constructed in this District bringing thousands and

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thousands of inmates to this area. This growth of inmate and non-inmate populations has caused the

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civil and criminal caseloads to explode.
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Second, the Eastern District of California has not had a new judgeship in about 30 years. Thus,

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the same number of judicial officers is handling exponentially more cases now than the same number of

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judges handled 30 years ago. As it stands, the Fresno Division has only one active district judge and

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one part-time senior district judge who are constitutionally obligated to place priority on criminal

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matters. Despite this, more than half of the civil cases filed in the District are filed in the Fresno

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Division. The Sacramento Division has four active district judges and two senior district judges so the

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Court has been forced to redirect many of the civil cases filed in the Fresno Division to the Sacramento

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Division. At the outset of this case, the parties were reminded of this judicial crisis and were advised

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that their case had been randomly selected to be reassigned to the Sacramento Division. (Doc. 17-1)

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The impacts of the judicial crisis are easy to track. Assuming a District Judge ever finds time to

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try the case, it takes longer for cases to come to trial, litigants are forced to have their trials continued

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many times before they are heard, trials may trail from day-to-day until the District Judge has time to

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hear them or trials are interrupted, once started, to allow the District Judge to take matters of higher

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priority.

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Until change occurs, the Court must employ all reasonable tactics to attempt to advance the

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cases through the system. Here, the parties are allowed the option of consenting to magistrate judge

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jurisdiction—and allow their case to proceed in a convenient location in a timely fashion—or, to

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decline this option and allow the case to proceed in Sacramento. The Court understands the frustration

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of counsel and hardship on the parties if the matter is transferred to Sacramento but unless and until this

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Court is afforded additional judicial resources, it simply cannot continue to hear the multitude of civil

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cases field in the Fresno Division.

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If Plaintiff affirmatively consents to Magistrate Judge jurisdiction, all hearings will remain in

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the Fresno Division and will not be transferred to Sacramento. The trial would occur in Bakersfield

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which would ease the Plaintiff’s ability to present witnesses who, in all likelihood, are located in

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Bakersfield. Just as with a final judgment issued by a District Judge, any appeal from the final

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judgment issued by the Magistrate Judge would proceed in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

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Plaintiff may consent or withhold consent to Magistrate Judge jurisdiction without any adverse
substantive consequences. However, in the event that Plaintiff does not consent, all hearings and the
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trial will occur in Sacramento. Moreover, if the trial occurs in Sacramento, the parties’ ability to

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compel witnesses to appear at the trial may be reduced.

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Therefore, within 10 days, Plaintiff is ORDERED to file his consent or decline to the

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jurisdiction of the Magistrate Judge. The Clerk of the Court is DIRCTED to provide Plaintiff a form

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for that purpose.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated:

November 18, 2014

/s/ Jennifer L. Thurston
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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