Coleman, et al v. Schwarzenegger, et al

Filing 6643

ORDER signed by Chief District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller on 04/27/2020. Any motion concerning the initial crisis management phase of planning for the impact of the COVID-19 on defendants' obligations to class members in this action shall be fil ed within the next thirty days; and the next status conference to review defendants' response to the coronavirus pandemic and the effects on the Coleman class is set for Friday, May 1, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. Thereafter, the court will hold regular telephonic status conferences every three weeks on Friday mornings at 10:00 a.m. until further order of the court.(Andrews, P)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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RALPH COLEMAN, et al.,

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Plaintiffs,

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v.

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No. 2:90-cv-0520 KJM DB P

ORDER

GAVIN NEWSOM, et al.,

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Defendants.

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As required by court order, on April 16, 2020, defendants filed their Strategic COVID-19

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Management Plan (defendants’ Plan). ECF No. 6616.1 The court is in receipt of plaintiffs’

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response to defendants’ Plan, ECF Nos. 6626,2 and defendants’ reply to plaintiffs’ response, ECF

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Nos. 6633.3 Having carefully considered the parties’ filings, the court declines to construe any

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filing or any portion thereof as a motion. To the extent any party or intervenor wishes to bring a

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motion formally, the court provides a schedule for doing so below. In so doing, with respect to

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the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on defendants’ obligations to class

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members in this action, the court finds that much of the court’s and the parties’ effort to date has

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fallen within an initial crisis management phase, which has involved planning and interim policy-

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Defendants’ Plan is accompanied by numerous attachments, ECF No. 6616-1.

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Plaintiffs’ response is accompanied by declarations and evidence, ECF Nos. 6627, 6628, 6640,
6641 (sealed), and 6642-1.

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Defendants’ reply is accompanied by a declaration, ECF No. 6633-1.
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making under exigent circumstances. With some exceptions, most notably with respect to the

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Department of State Hospitals’ temporary suspension of Coleman class members’ admissions, see

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ECF No. 6639, most of the initial crisis management activity in this case has taken place through

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the efforts of the parties and the court’s Special Master in serial meetings of the coronavirus task

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force this court created on March 27, 2020. ECF No. 6546. Given the value that task force

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process has provided, providing for a forum for expedited problem solving without litigation to

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the extent possible, the court will direct that it continue meeting until the court orders otherwise,

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with continuing regular status conferences as ordered below.

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At the same time, the court observes that defendants’ management of the

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coronavirus pandemic and Coleman class members affected by it appears to be moving into an

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interim albeit still temporary phase of implementation, with many planned transfers of inmates to

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achieve physical distancing to be completed as of this week. With inmates relocated, the court

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expects defendants may be considering ongoing refinements of their initial plans and policies.

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And even after an interim phase, given that defendants previously have taken the position the

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pandemic has “no horizon,” the pandemic will likely continue to inform prison operations

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affecting Coleman class members for many months if not years to come. The court previously

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has indicated that it plans to resume proceedings to oversee defendants’ compliance with those

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aspects of the Program Guide in this case with which compliance has not yet been achieved, and

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it confirms its plans to maintain that primary track of this litigation. To the extent the court must

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also maintain the parallel track already opened up, as discussed above, to monitor coronavirus

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issues as relevant to Coleman compliance, it is prepared to do so for as long as necessary. To

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guide the parties’ understanding of the court’s current views of how these parallel tracks will

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operate, the court will soon issue an order outlining those views.

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In the meantime, good cause appearing IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

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1. Any motion concerning the initial crisis management phase of planning for the impact

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of the COVID-19 on defendants’ obligations to class members in this action shall be

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filed within the next thirty days; and

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2. The next status conference to review defendants’ response to the coronavirus

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pandemic and the effects on the Coleman class is set for Friday, May 1, 2020 at

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10:00 a.m. Thereafter, the court will hold regular telephonic status conferences every

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three weeks on Friday mornings at 10:00 a.m.4 until further order of the court.

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DATED: April 27, 2020.

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To the extent one of these status conferences falls on a date on which the court has a civil law
and motion calendar, the time of the status conference may be adjusted as will be reflected on the
court’s calendar by a day before the status conference.
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