Cohea v. Pliler, et al

Filing 254

FINDINGS and RECOMMENDATIONS signed by Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan on 2/17/2015 RECOMMENDING that plaintiff's 252 "request for order on obstruction of justice related to obstruction of court order(s)" be denied without prejudice. Referred to Judge Garland E. Burrell, Jr.; Objections due within 14 days.(Yin, K)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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DANNY JAMES COHEA,

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Plaintiff,

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v.

No. 2:00-cv-2799-GEB-EFB P

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

CHERYL K. PLILER, et al.,
Defendants.

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Plaintiff, a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in an action brought under 42 U.S.C.

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§ 1983, has filed a document entitled “request for order on obstruction of justice related to

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obstruction of court order(s).” ECF No. 252.

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In this filing, plaintiff asks the court to intervene to stop prison officials from following a

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policy that plaintiff contends is obstructing his ability to litigate this case. Under the challenged

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policy, the prison stores “excess active case legal materials/documents” in a storage area, and the

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inmate-litigant can access those excess legal materials by requesting to exchange one box of legal

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materials stored in the litigant’s cell with one box in the storage area at a rate of one box

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exchange per week. Id. at 23-24. Plaintiff also claims that prison officials have retaliated against

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him for his litigation efforts by wrongfully citing him for rules violations while in the prison law

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library. He further claims that he has been deprived of physical access to the law library for

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periods of time as a result of these disciplinary citations.
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Plaintiff’s request for court intervention against persons who are not parties to this case is

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governed by The All Writs Act. That Act gives federal courts the authority to issue “all writs

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necessary or appropriate in aid of their respective jurisdictions and agreeable to the usages and

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principles of law.” 28 U.S.C. 1651(a). It is meant to aid the court in the exercise and

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preservation of its jurisdiction. Plum Creek Lumber Company v. Hutton, 608 F.2d 1283, 1289

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(9th Cir. 1979). The United States Supreme Court has authorized the use of the All Writs Act in

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appropriate circumstances against persons who, “though not parties to the original action or

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engaged in wrongdoing, are in a position to frustrate the implementation of a court order or the

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proper administration of justice.” United States v. N.Y. Tel. Co., 434 U.S. 159 (1977).

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To obtain an order under the All Writs Act, the requested order must be “necessary.” This

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language requires that the relief requested is not available through some alternative means.

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Clinton v. Goldsmith, 526 U.S. 529 (1999). Here, plaintiff has not provided the court with

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sufficient information from which the court can conclude that the order he seeks is necessary. His

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motion does not contain any specific facts showing how the challenged policy has prevented him

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from effectively litigating this case. There are no facts in the instant motion, for example,

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showing that plaintiff cannot organize his case materials in such a way so that he can access the

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materials he needs under the box exchange policy, or that prison officials are refusing to

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exchange boxes when requested by plaintiff. Nor has plaintiff produced any specific facts or

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evidence on his claims that the disciplinary actions taken against him by library staff are

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retaliatory or baseless or that, when he lacked physical access to the library he could not obtain

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the library materials he needed through the prison’s paging system. See ECF No. 252 at

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(exclaiming, “‘Paging’ systems won’t do!!!” but not explaining why). Accordingly, plaintiff’s

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request for judicial intervention should be denied without prejudice. Plaintiff may file a new

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request for intervention presenting specific facts from which the court can conclude that prison

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officials are actually hindering his ability to litigate this case. A simple recitation of those facts is

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all that is required; plaintiff need not provide lengthy case citations.

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For the foregoing reasons, it is hereby RECOMMENDED that plaintiff's “request for

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order on obstruction of justice related to obstruction of court order(s)” (ECF No. 252) be denied

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without prejudice.

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These findings and recommendations are submitted to the United States District Judge

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assigned to the case, pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(l). Within fourteen days

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after being served with these findings and recommendations, any party may file written

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objections with the court and serve a copy on all parties. Such a document should be captioned

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“Objections to Magistrate Judge’s Findings and Recommendations.” Failure to file objections

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within the specified time may waive the right to appeal the District Court’s order. Turner v.

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Duncan, 158 F.3d 449, 455 (9th Cir. 1998); Martinez v. Ylst, 951 F.2d 1153 (9th Cir. 1991).

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DATED: February 17, 2015.

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