Morris v. Green

Filing 49

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Carolyn K. Delaney on 5/6/2015 DENYING plaintiff's 36 and 37 motions. (Yin, K)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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LEON E. MORRIS,

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Plaintiff,

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No. 2:13-cv-0589 JAM CKD P

v.

ORDER

C. M. GREEN,

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Defendant.

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This pro se prisoner action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 proceeds against defendant

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Green. Plaintiff claims that Green retaliated against him for filing inmate grievances and failed to

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process plaintiff’s legal mail in December 2011. (ECF No. 1 at 5-6.)
Plaintiff has filed two motions “for sanctions and judicial intervention,” now before the

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court. (ECF Nos. 36 & 37.) Defendant has opposed the motions. (ECF Nos. 43 & 41.) Both

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motions seek to compel defendant to produce discovery.

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I. Legal Standard
Under Rule 26 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, “[p]arties may obtain discovery

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regarding any non-privileged matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense. Fed. R. Civ.

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P. 26(b). “Relevant information need not be admissible at trial if the discovery appears

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reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” Id.

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With respect to requests for production, a party may propound requests for production of

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documents that are within the scope of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b). Fed. R. Civ. P.

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34(a). With respect to interrogatories, a party may propound interrogatories related to any matter

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that may be inquired into under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b). Fed. R. Civ. P. 33(a)(2).

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Under Rule 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, “a party seeking discovery may

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move for an order compelling an answer, designation, production, or inspection.” Fed. R. Civ. P.

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37(a)(3) (B). The court may order a party to provide further responses to an “evasive or

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incomplete disclosure, answer, or response.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(4). “District courts have

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‘broad discretion to manage discovery and to control the course of litigation under Federal Rule

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of Civil Procedure 16.’” Hunt v. County of Orange, 672 F.3d 606, 616 (9th Cir. 2012).

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II. January 26, 2015 Motion

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Plaintiff states that, in November 2014, he served interrogatories and requests for

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production of documents on defendant and defendant’s attorney. (ECF No. 36 at 1.) He asserts

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that defendant has “not cooperated” in responding to these requests. (Id. at 2.) He asks that the

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court “compel compliance and impose sanctions” on defendant and defendant’s attorney. (Id.)

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Plaintiff does not specify which discovery responses he finds inadequate. From the

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attached discovery materials, it appears that he refers to Interrogatories No. 9 and 10, which ask

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whether Green has ever had “a CDC 602 filed against you” and how many such grievances have

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been filed against Green. (Id. at 10-11.) He may also refer to Interrogatory No. 11, which asks

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“What were the reasons 602’s have been filed against you?” (Id. at 11.)

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In his response to Interrogatories No. 9 and 10, defendant objected on various grounds,

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including overbreadth, vagueness, and irrelevance. (Id. at 10.) Defendant also objected that the

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requests sought personnel documents that are protected from disclosure under state law.

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Defendant further objected that the information was confidential and would pose a security

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hazard if disclosed. (Id. at 10-11.) Subject to these objections, defendant stated that plaintiff

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himself had submitted two 602s against defendant. (Id.) In response to Interrogatory No. 11,

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defendant raised similar objections and referred plaintiff to 602 grievances filed by plaintiff and

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contained in plaintiff’s central file. (Id. at 11-12.)
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In his motion, plaintiff asserts that he “has a right to know how many 602 complaints have

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been filed against defendant Green and what the issue of the complaint was about.” (Id. at 2.) He

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takes issue with defendant’s response that such information “jeopardizes the safety and security”

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of the prison or “the confidentiality of anyone, prisoner or otherwise.” (Id.)

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Plaintiff also refers in his motion to an “activity log” maintained by defendant and other

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prison staff. (ECF No. 36 at 4.) He attaches a set of requests for production of documents, one of

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which concerns the activity log, along with defendant’s responses. However, plaintiff does not

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specify which response(s) he disputes or why the material sought is relevant.

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In opposition to the motion, defendant argues that plaintiff’s motion should be denied

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because plaintiff did not try to informally resolve the discovery dispute. See Fed. R. Civ. P.

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37(a). (ECF No. 43 at 2.) Because plaintiff is proceeding pro se while incarcerated, the court

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will not deny his motion on this basis.

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However, plaintiff is required to specify which discovery responses are at issue and why

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the information sought is relevant. See Johnson v. Sandy, No. 2:12-cv-2922 JAM AC P, 2014

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WL 4631642, at *4 (E.D. Cal. Sept. 15, 2014) (“The party seeking to compel discovery has the

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burden of establishing that its request satisfies the relevancy requirements of Rule 26(b)(1). The

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party opposing discovery then has the burden of showing that the discovery should be prohibited,

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and the burden of clarifying, explaining, or supporting its objections.”) (citation omitted)

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(emphasis added); Walker v. Karelas, No. CIV S-07-2545 MCE DAD P, 2009 WL 3075575, at*1

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(E.D. Cal. Sept. 21, 2009) (“The court does not hold pro se litigants to the same standards that it

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holds attorneys. However, at a minimum, as the moving party, the plaintiff has the burden of

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informing the court which discovery responses are disputed, why the defendant’s objections are

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not justified, and why the information he seeks through discovery is relevant to the prosecution of

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this action.”) (citing cases).

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Here, plaintiff has not specified which responses he objects to and has made no attempt to

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explain why the information he seeks is relevant to his claim(s). Because plaintiff has not met

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his initial burden for compelling discovery, the court does not reach the question of whether the

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records at issue are privileged and confidential, as defendant claims. Nor has plaintiff made a
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showing that discovery sanctions are warranted. Thus the court will deny this motion.

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III. February 4, 2015 Motion

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In a similar motion filed days later, plaintiff states that defendant answered only two of

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the seven interrogatories he sent, and as to the remaining five “defendant skirted around or

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outright lied about.” (ECF No. 27 at 1-2.) Plaintiff attaches discovery materials but does not

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identify which responses he found inadequate or why. Nor has he shown that discovery sanctions

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are warranted. For the reasons discussed above, the court will deny this motion also.

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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

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1. Plaintiff’s January 26, 2015 motion (ECF No. 36) is denied; and

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2. Plaintiff’s February 4, 2015 motion (ECF No. 37) is denied.
Dated: May 6, 2015

_____________________________________
CAROLYN K. DELANEY
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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