Womack v. Virga
Filing
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ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Edmund F. Brennan on 09/25/12 ordering plaintiff's motions 37 and 40 are denied. On or before 10/31/12, plaintiff may file a sworn affidavit or appropriate declaration made under penalty of perjury that sets forth the factual showing required by FRCP 56(d). No extensions of time will be granted. Defendants may file a written opposition or statement of non-opposition to plaintiff's affidavit or declaration within 7 days after plaintiff files such affidavit or declaration. (Plummer, 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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RODNEY WOMACK,
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Plaintiff,
vs.
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No. 2:11-cv-1030 MCE EFB P
TIM VIRGA, et al.,
ORDER
Defendants.
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Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in an action brought under 42
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U.S.C. § 1983. Pending before the court are plaintiff’s “Motion for Proof that Defendants
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Fabricated Plaintiff’s Mental Health Records,” and “Amended Motion for Injunctive Relief.”1
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Dckt. Nos. 37, 40. Also pending is defendants’ motion for summary judgment. Dckt. No. 66.
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For the reasons stated herein, plaintiff’s motions are denied, but he is granted leave to file an
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affidavit responding to defendants’ summary judgment motion in accordance with Rule 56(d) of
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the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
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Plaintiff’s other pending motions will be address by separate order and/or findings and
recommendations. See Dckt. Nos. 54, 62, 63, 64.
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I.
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Background
This action proceeds on plaintiff’s claim that defendants Stabbe, Virga, Sullivan,
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Worrell, Van Dusseldorp, and Jochim (“defendants”), violated plaintiff’s Eighth Amendment
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right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment by refusing to permit him to be housed in a
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single cell for the duration of his incarceration, causing him to suffer significant emotional and
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psychological distress.2 See Dckt. No. 1 at 4-5 (alleging that if forced to share a cell, he will kill
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or be killed by his cellmate). Plaintiff also claims that defendants subjected him to cruel and
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unusual punishment by wrongfully issuing disciplinary write-ups, retaining him in administrative
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segregation, and revoking his privileges. See Dckt. No. 1 (Plaintiff’s April 18, 2011 “Motion for
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Preliminary Injunctive Relief”); Dckt. No. 7 (Plaintiff’s May 6, 2011 “Affidavit in Support of
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Motion for Preliminary Injunctive Relief”); Dckt. No. 8 (Plaintiff’s May 6, 2011 Complaint).
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See also Dckt. No. 11 (May 21, 2011 28 U.S.C. § 1915A Screening Order).
On April 18, 2011, prior to filing a complaint, plaintiff filed a motion for preliminary
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injunctive injunction and requested an order to: (1) prevent defendant Virga from allowing his
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subordinates to harass plaintiff through issuing disciplinary write-ups for plaintiff’s refusals to
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accept cellmates; (2) grant plaintiff single-cell status; (3) provide plaintiff with treatment for his
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“post traumatic stress syndrome” and “bipolar mental health problems;” and (4) compel the
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Office of the Attorney General to investigate defendants Virga and Worrell for conspiring to
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fabricate reasons to deny single cell status to deserving inmates. Dckt. No. 1; see also Dckt. No.
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6 (Plaintiff’s May 2, 2011 “Motion to Amend [ ] Preliminary Injunctive Relief”).
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Plaintiff also named McElroy as a defendant in this action, but voluntarily dismissed
defendant McElroy on July 18, 2011. Dckt. No. 18.
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Thereafter, plaintiff eventually filed a complaint and filed several motions seeking
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assistance in obtaining discovery, claiming that he needed certain documents to support his
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motion for preliminary injunctive relief.3 See Dckt. No. 28 (Plaintiff’s August 17, 2011 “Motion
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for Discovery”); Dckt. No. 31 (Plaintiff’s September 22, 2011 “Motion to Compel Discovery”).
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On December 21, 2011, the court ordered defendants to produce to plaintiff the requested
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documents within 21 days. Dckt. No. 38. The court also denied plaintiff’s April 18, 2011
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motion for preliminary injunctive relief without prejudice. Id.
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II.
Plaintiff’s Motion for Proof that Defendants Fabricated Plaintiff’s Mental Health
Records (Dckt. No. 37)
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On December 1, 2011, plaintiff filed a “Motion for Proof that Defendants Fabricated
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Plaintiff’s Mental Health Records.” Dckt. No. 37. According to plaintiff, some of his mental
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health records misstate his cell number. He contends that this proves “that Folsom Mental
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Health Staff are fabricating his [ ] mental health progress notes for the sole purpose of having
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documented reasons for denying plaintiff single cell status.” Id. at 4. Plaintiff’s “motion” does
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not include any request for relief, nor does it cite any legal source authorizing its filing. It
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plainly is not a filing contemplated by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Although plaintiff
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is proceeding pro se, he is required to comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the
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Local Rules of the Eastern District of California. See McNeil v. United States, 508 U.S. 106, 113
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(1993) (procedural requirements apply to all litigants, including prisoners lacking access to
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The court summarized plaintiff’s filings as moving to compel the production of the
following documents: 1) any and all institutional appeals against correctional officers; 2) any and
all institutional 602 appeals plaintiff has submitted for any and all reasons; 3) any and all copies
of CDC 115 disciplinary write-ups plaintiff has received while incarcerated at Folsom State
Prison; 4) all classification committee actions; 5) any and all mental health institutional appeals
plaintiff has submitted against mental health staff; 6) any and all institutional 602 appeals
plaintiff has submitted against Folsom State Prison’s mental health staff; 7) any and all copies of
CDC 115 disciplinary writeups that plaintiff has received from mental health employees; 8)
plaintiff’s mental health records from Folsom Mental Health Department; 9) plaintiff’s
confidential mental health records from Folsom Mental Health Department; and 10) all
classification committee actions. See Dckt. No. 38 at 3.
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counsel); L.R. 183(a) (“Any individual representing himself or herself without an attorney is
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bound by the Federal Rules of Civil or Criminal Procedure, these Rules, and all other applicable
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law.”). Plaintiff’s motion, which lacks any procedural or substantive basis, must be denied. In
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the event plaintiff’s opposition to defendants’ pending motion for summary judgment includes
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objections to the authenticity of defendants’ evidence, the court will address those objections, if
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necessary, when it resolves that motion.
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III.
Plaintiff’s Amended Motion for Injunctive Relief (Dckt. No. 40)
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On February 2, 2012, plaintiff filed an “Amended Motion for Injunctive Relief.” Dckt.
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No. 40. In that motion, plaintiff again claims that defendants have fabricated his mental health
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records. He also claims that defendants have wrongfully failed to produce some of the
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documents responsive to his discovery requests.4 See id. at 10-11, 21 (including five disciplinary
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write-ups issued after plaintiff initiated this action, certain mental health records from California
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State Prison, Sacramento, and the mental health interdisciplinary treatment team’s December 24,
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2009 chrono granting plaintiff single-cell status for a year); id. at 15 (asking defendants, “where
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is this chrono?”). Defendants contend that the exhibits to plaintiff’s motion belie his claims,
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because most of the exhibits were produced to plaintiff by defendants, “as confirmed by the
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Bates page numbers affixed by Defendants prior to producing the requested documents to
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Plaintiff.” See Dckt. No. 49 at 5 (“Defendants could not, as Plaintiff would have this court
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believe, both withhold and produce the same documents.”). A careful reading of plaintiff’s
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motion, along with the attached exhibits, however, reveals that many of the documents that
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plaintiff claims were withheld, are not attached as exhibits to his motion. Additionally, many of
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those that are attached, are not Bates stamped. Accordingly, defendants have not sufficiently
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addressed plaintiff’s contention that they failed to fully respond to his discovery requests.
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Plaintiff makes similar contentions in his March 15, 2012 filing. See Dckt. No. 50.
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Nevertheless, plaintiff does not seek an order compelling defendants to produce the
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allegedly withheld documents described above. Instead, plaintiff appears to argue that
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defendants’ alleged discovery misconduct entitles him to single-cell status. See Dckt. No. 40 at
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6 (citing to Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a)). It does not. An order mandating that plaintiff be single-
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celled is not an appropriate sanction for allegedly deficient discovery responses. See Fed. R.
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Civ. P. 37(b)(2)(A)(i)-(vi) (listing types of sanctions for not obeying a discovery order). To the
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extent plaintiff’s February 2, 2012 motion requests injunctive relief in the form of a court order
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requiring that he be single celled, that request will be addressed in separately issued findings and
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recommendations resolving plaintiff’s subsequently filed “Re-Amended Motion for Injunctive
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Relief.” See Docket No. 54.
Plaintiff’s February 2, 2012 motion also requests that the undersigned “personally
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discover [and] research” plaintiff’s “prior hospitalizations” and “prior mental health histories”
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from Corcoran State Prison, Vacaville’s Department of Mental Health, and the California Social
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Security Department. Dckt. No. 40 at 3-4; see also id. at 2, 23; id. at 4 (stating that to “deny
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plaintiff these mental health records is to deny plaintiff the right to properly argue his case for
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single cell status”); id at 21 (“defendants withheld the above mental health records for the sole
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purpose of preventing this court (Hon. Edmund. F. Brennan) from having the relevant records of
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plaintiff, records that would allow this court to grant plaintiff’s request for single-cell status.”).
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That request must be denied. The role of the court is not to conduct discovery or research for the
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parties. Plaintiff is responsible for litigating his case, and he must conduct the necessary legal
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research to pursue this action.
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Even had plaintiff requested that defendants, instead of the court, produce these
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documents, the request would still be procedurally and substantively deficient. The deadline for
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filing motions to compel was November 28, 2011, and plaintiff did not file the instant motion
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until February 2, 2012 and has neither requested an extension of that deadline nor shown good
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cause for any such extension. See Aug. 9, 2011 Discovery & Scheduling Order, Dckt. No. 27.
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Additionally, the court cannot compel defendants to produce documents that were never properly
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requested by plaintiff. The case file reflects that plaintiff requested from defendants his mental
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health records from his incarceration at California State Prison, Sacramento, see Dckt. No. 49-1,
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Ex. A, but plaintiff fails to demonstrate that he ever made an appropriate discovery request for
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documents regarding “prior hospitalizations” or “mental health histories” from any institution
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other than California State Prison, Sacramento. See Dckt. No. 40 at 12, 22 (alleging generally
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that “Folsom State Prison Psychologists” failed to honor plaintiff’s request that they retrieve his
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mental health records from Corcoran and Vacaville). Thus, even viewed as a motion to compel,
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the request is both untimely and improper.
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IV.
Leave to File Rule 56(d) Affidavit
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Throughout plaintiff’s filings, he contends that defendants’ alleged withholding of certain
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documents will prevent him from obtaining relief in this action. As noted, discovery in this case
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is closed and defendants’ motion for summary judgment is pending. Federal Rule of Civil
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Procedure 56(d) permits a party opposing a motion for summary judgment to request an order
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deferring the time to respond to the motion and permitting that party to conduct additional
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discovery upon an adequate factual showing. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(d) (requiring party making
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such request to show “by affidavit or declaration that, for specified reasons, it cannot present
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facts essential to justify its opposition.”). A Rule 56(d) affidavit must identify “the specific facts
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that further discovery would reveal, and explain why those facts would preclude summary
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judgment.” Tatum v. City and County of San Francisco, 441 F.3d 1090, 1100 (9th Cir. 2006). A
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Rule 56(d) affidavit must also identify “some basis for believing that the information sought
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actually exists.” Blough v. Holland Realty, Inc., 574 F.3d 1084, 1091 n.5 (9th Cir. 2009). Given
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plaintiff’s status as a pro se litigant and his apparent belief that he may be entitled to relief under
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Rule 56(d), the court will grant plaintiff one opportunity to make the factual showing required by
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Rule 56(d). If plaintiff declines to do so, the court will decide the summary judgment motion on
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the current record.
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V.
Order
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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
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1. Plaintiff’s motions (Dckt. Nos. 37, 40) are denied.
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2. On or before October 31, 2012, plaintiff may file a sworn affidavit or appropriate
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declaration made under penalty of perjury that sets forth the factual showing required
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by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(d). No extensions of time will be granted.
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3. Defendants may file a written opposition or statement of non-opposition to
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plaintiff’s affidavit or declaration within seven days after plaintiff files such affidavit or
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declaration.
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DATED: September 25, 2012.
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