Welch, et. al. v. Brown, et. al.

Filing 69

ORDER signed by Senior Judge William B. Shubb on 2/6/13 GRANTING 61 Motion to Stay. All proceedings in this action are hereby STAYED pending the appeal in 2:12cv2497. The 2/11/13 Motion Hearing is VACATED. (Manzer, C)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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DONALD WELCH, ANTHONY DUK,
AARON BITZER,

NO. CIV. 2:12-2484 WBS KJN

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ORDER RE: MOTION TO STAY
Plaintiffs,

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v.
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EDMUND G. BROWN, JR., Governor
of the State of California, In
His Official Capacity, ANNA M.
CABALLERO, Secretary of
California State and Consumer
Services Agency, In Her
Official Capacity, DENISE
BROWN, Director of Consumer
Affairs, In Her Official
Capacity, CHRISTINE
WIETLISBACH, PATRICIA
LOCK-DAWSON, SAMARA ASHLEY,
HARRY DOUGLAS, JULIA JOHNSON,
SARITA KOHLI, RENEE LONNER,
KAREN PINES, CHRISTINA WONG,
In Their Official Capacities
as Members of the California
Board of Behavioral Sciences,
SHARON LEVINE, MICHAEL BISHOP,
SILVIA DIEGO, DEV GNANADEV,
REGINALD LOW, DENISE PINES,
JANET SALOMONSON, GERRIE
SCHIPSKE, DAVID SERRANO
SEWELL, BARBARA YAROSLAYSKY,
In Their Official Capacities
as Members of the Medical
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Board of California,

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Defendants.
/

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----oo0oo----

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On December 3, 2012, the court enjoined defendants from

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enforcing Senate Bill 1172 (“SB 1172”) against plaintiffs Donald

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Welch, Anthony Duk, and Aaron Bitzer, and defendants appealed the

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order granting the preliminary injunction on January 1, 2013.

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The Ninth Circuit has set an expedited briefing schedule and the

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appeal is set to be heard the week of April 15, 2013, along with

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the appeal in the case of Pickup v. Brown, Civ. No. 2:12-2497 KJM

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EFB.1

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of that appeal.

Defendants now seek a stay of the case pending resolution

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After considering the parties’ arguments in their

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briefs along with the interests served in staying the case, the

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court finds that granting defendants’ motion for a stay will be

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fair to all parties as well as serve the interests of judicial

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economy.

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857, 863-64 (9th Cir. 1979) (“A trial court may, with propriety,

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find it is efficient for its own docket and the fairest course

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for the parties to enter a stay of an action before it, pending

Cf. Leyva v. Certified Grocers of Cal., Ltd., 593 F.2d

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On January 29, 2013, Judge Mueller granted the parties’
joint request for a stay pending resolution of the appeal in
Pickup v. Brown. See Pickup v. Brown, Civ. No. 2:12-2497 KJM
EFB, Docket No. 98 (“[T]here is no indication that a stay pending
resolution of the preliminary injunction appeal would harm any of
the parties, especially because they have jointly requested the
stay. Moreover, because the preliminary injunction appeal will
resolve issues related to the constitutionality of SB 1172 that
this court will need to address in order to move forward, it will
achieve efficiencies to await the outcome of the Ninth Circuit
proceedings.”).
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resolution of independent proceedings which bear upon the

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case.”).

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that is central to this case in which two judges of this court

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reached differing conclusions, namely, whether it is likely that

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SB 1172 violates the First Amendment.

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action enjoined defendants from enforcing SB 1172 against

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plaintiffs, and the Ninth Circuit enjoined enforcement of SB 1172

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pending resolution of the appeal in Pickup, plaintiffs here will

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not suffer harm in waiting for a decision from the Ninth Circuit

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It is expected that the appeal will resolve an issue

As the court in this

before continuing to litigate this action.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that defendants’ motion for a

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stay be, and the same hereby is, GRANTED.

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this action are hereby STAYED pending the appeal in Pickup v.

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Brown, Civ. No. 2:12-2497 KJM EFB.

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for February 11, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. is VACATED.

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of the pending appeal, counsel shall take the necessary steps to

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inform the Clerk and arrange to have this matter set for further

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status conference.

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DATED:

February 6, 2013

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All proceedings in

The hearing previously set
Upon resolution