Coleman, et al v. Schwarzenegger, et al

Filing 6700

ORDER signed by Chief District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller on 6/2/20 ORDERING that the parties are granted fourteen days in which to file and serve the briefs invited by this order. (Kaminski, H)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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RALPH COLEMAN, et al.,

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Plaintiffs,

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v.

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

ORDER

GAVIN NEWSOM, et al.,
Defendants.

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The court is in the process of reviewing the stipulation filed by the parties on May

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20, 2020, ECF No. 6679, filed in response to the court’s April 17, 2020 directive requiring

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identification of “temporary departures” from certain Program Guide requirements implemented

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by defendants in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. See ECF No. 6622 at 2-3. It is settled

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that the Program Guide “‘is grounded in the requirements of the Eighth Amendment’” Coleman v.

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Brown, 938 F.Supp.2d 955, 973 (E.D. Cal. 2013) (internal citation omitted); see also Coleman v.

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Brown, 756 Fed. App’x 677, 679 (9th Cir. 2018) (law of the case that “the Program Guide sets

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out the objective standards that the Constitution requires in this context, . . . .”). The court’s

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review of the May 20, 2020 stipulation raises in its mind a serious question about the extent to

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which, if at all, the court can or should approve any measure that falls below Eighth Amendment

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requirements as those are memorialized in the Program Guide and whether there is any temporary
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period of time for such measures to remain in place that survives scrutiny under applicable legal

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standards. Good cause appearing, the parties are invited to file briefing focused on answers to

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these questions. The parties also shall provide clarification of how specifically “hiring authority”

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is defined as used in the attachments to the stipulation. See ECF No. 6679 at 9, 32. Any brief

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filed in response to this order shall be limited to ten pages.

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In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the parties are

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granted fourteen days in which to file and serve the briefs invited by this order.

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DATED: June 2, 2020.

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