Ramirez v. Swingle et al

Filing 25

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman on 9/6/11 DENYING 23 and 24 Motions for court ordered copies. (Dillon, M)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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ANDREW RAMIREZ,

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Plaintiff,

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No. 2: 11-cv-0045 KJN P

vs.
D. SWINGLE, et al.,

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Defendants.

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ORDER
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Plaintiff is a state prisoner, proceeding without counsel, with a civil rights action

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pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On July 21, 2011, plaintiff filed a motion requesting that the court

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direct prison officials to make copies of volumes 9, 10 and 11 of plaintiff’s medical records.

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Plaintiff states that he requires a court order in order to obtain copies of documents that exceed

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100 pages.

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In this action, plaintiff alleges that he received inadequate medical care. Under

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these circumstances, documents from plaintiff’s medical records are relevant to this action.

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Plaintiff is entitled to collect evidence in support of his claims. However, it is unclear that every

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document in volumes 9, 10 and 11 of plaintiff’s medical records is relevant to this action. It is

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also unclear how many pages of documents each volume contains.

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Plaintiff does not allege that he has sought to review his medical files by way of

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an Olson review or otherwise followed prison procedures to request access to his medical files.1

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If plaintiff were to review his medical records, there appears no reason why he could not mark

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the pages he requires copies of. It is possible that the pages he seeks from these volumes may not

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exceed 100 pages. If plaintiff seeks more than 100 pages of documents, it is unclear why he

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could not then request a court order for copies of these documents. Accordingly, plaintiff’s

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motion for copies of volumes 9, 10 and 11 of his medical files is denied without prejudice.

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Plaintiff may renew this motion if he is able to demonstrate that he cannot obtain copies of

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documents from his medical files by way of an Olson review or other prison procedures.

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On August 5, 2011, plaintiff filed a motion requesting that prison officials be

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ordered to make copies of documents exceeding 100 pages. This motion does not identify any

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particular documents exceeding 100 pages that plaintiff requires copies of. Accordingly, this

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motion is denied as not well supported.

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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff’s motions for court

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ordered copies (Dkt. Nos. 23 and 24) are denied without prejudice.

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DATED: September 6, 2011

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_____________________________________
KENDALL J. NEWMAN
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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ram45.cop

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An Olson review is a review of a prisoner’s central or medical files mandated by In re
Olson, 37 Cal.App.3d 783, 112 Cal.Rptr. 579 (1974).

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