Blaine v. California Health Care Facility et al

Filing 61

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Allison Claire on 10/11/2016 DENYING plaintiff's 55 request for additional accommodations. (Yin, K)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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VANCE BLAINE,

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No. 2:13-cv-2163 KJM AC P

Plaintiff,
v.

ORDER

CALIFORNIA HEALTH CARE
FACILITY, et al.,
Defendants.

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Plaintiff, a visually impaired state prisoner incarcerated at the California Health Care

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Facility (CHCF), proceeds pro se and in forma pauperis with this civil rights action filed pursuant

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to 42 U.S.C. 1983. This action proceeds on plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint filed April 24,

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2014. See ECF No. 13.

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By order filed September 8, 2016, in response to plaintiff’s request for accommodations,

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see ECF No. 55, this court requested that the Office of the California Attorney General contact

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CHCF to identify the accommodations accorded plaintiff in pursuing this action. See ECF No.

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57. The court acknowledges the helpful efforts of Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Matthew

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Ross Wilson in investigating this matter and filing a response by special appearance, together

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with a declaration submitted by T. Weinholdt, CHCF’s Americans with Disabilities Act

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Coordinator. See ECF No. 60.
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The response indicates that plaintiff has access to all accommodations available at CHCF,

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including a Merlin Elite HD Magnifier Enhanced Vision machine in the prison library, that

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optimizes and enlarges text, and audibly reads text that plaintiff may listen to with headphones;

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that neither CHCF nor the California Medical Facility, plaintiff’s prior place of incarceration,

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have access to a machine capable of taking notes and dictation; that plaintiff has access to law

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librarians who can read documents and write for him, and assist with legal research; that plaintiff

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also has access to personal assistants working with the Inmate Disability Assistance Program, in

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both the law library and housing units, who can access plaintiff’s legal documents with his

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consent and the approval of custody staff, and read and write for plaintiff; and that plaintiff may

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call on the assistance of other inmates. See ECF No. 60.

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For these several reasons, the court finds that plaintiff presently has adequate

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accommodations to pursue the instant action. Plaintiff’s request for additional accommodations,

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ECF No. 55, is therefore denied.

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At this juncture, two of the three defendants in this action have been served process. See

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ECF Nos. 36, 39 (defendant Sabin waived service and filed an answer); ECF No. 59 (defendant

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Crosson waived service). Service of process remains outstanding for defendant Ditomas. See

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ECF No. 53. Discovery is stayed and there are no existing deadlines. See ECF No. 46. After

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defendant Ditomas has been served process, and both he and defendant Crosson have answered

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the complaint, the court will issue a new Discovery and Scheduling Order. Plaintiff is advised

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that, pending further scheduling in this action, he should organize his legal documents and

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prepare his potential discovery requests for each defendant.1

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Plaintiff’s discovery requests may include the following: (1) requests for admission (yes-or-no
statements of fact) directed to each defendant, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 36; (2) up to twenty-five
interrogatories (questions) directed to each defendant, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 33; and (3) requests for
copies of documents, electronically stored information, or other tangible evidence directed to
each defendant, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 34.
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For the foregoing reasons, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that plaintiff’s request for

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additional accommodations, ECF No. 55, is denied.

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DATED: October 11, 2016

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