(PC) Woods v. Jones et al

Filing 18

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Dennis M. Cota on 09/24/2024 REFERRING CASE TO POST-SCREENING ADR PROJECT AND STAYING CASE FOR 120 DAYS. Within 30 days from the date of this order, Defendants shall file any motion to opt out of the Post-Screening ADR Project. Each party shall submit a confidential settlement conference statement at least 7 days prior to the conference. If settlement is reached, the parties shall file a Notice of Settlement. (Spichka, K.)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 AARON EARL WOODS, 12 Plaintiff, 13 14 No. 2:23-CV-3053-DMC-P v. ORDER REFERRING CASE TO POSTSCREENING ADR AND STAYING CASE FOR 120 DAYS RUIZ, 15 Defendant. 16 Plaintiff, a prisoner proceeding pro se, brings this civil rights action pursuant to 17 18 42 U.S.C. § 1983. An answer has been filed and the case is now at issue. The undersigned is referring all post-screening civil rights cases filed by pro se 19 20 state inmates to Post-Screening Early ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) in an effort to 21 resolve such cases more expeditiously and less expensively. Defense counsel from the Office of 22 the California Attorney General has agreed to participate in Early ADR. No defenses or 23 objections shall be waived by their participation. As set forth in the screening order, Plaintiff has stated a potentially cognizable 24 25 civil rights claim. Thus, the Court stays this action for a period of 120 days to allow the parties to 26 investigate Plaintiff’s claims, meet and confer, and then participate in a settlement conference. 27 /// 28 /// 1 1 There is a presumption that all post-screening prisoner civil rights cases assigned 2 to the undersigned will proceed to settlement conference. 1 However, if after investigating 3 Plaintiff’s claims and speaking with Plaintiff, and after conferring with defense counsel’s 4 supervisor, defense counsel in good faith finds that a settlement conference would be a waste of 5 resources, defense counsel may move to opt out of Early ADR. A motion to opt out must be filed 6 within 30 days of the date of this order. 7 Once the settlement conference is scheduled, at least seven days prior to the 8 conference, the parties shall submit to the settlement judge a confidential settlement conference 9 statement. The parties’ confidential settlement conference statements shall include the following: 10 (a) names and locations of the parties; (b) a short statement of the facts and alleged damages; (c) a 11 short procedural history; (d) an analysis of the risk of liability, including a discussion of the 12 efforts made to investigate the allegations; and (e) a discussion of the efforts that have been made 13 to settle the case. Defense counsel shall e-mail the settlement conference statement to the 14 settlement judge’s e-mail box for proposed orders, available on the court’s website. Plaintiff shall 15 place his settlement conference statement in the U.S. mail addressed to the settlement conference 16 judge, United States District Court, 501 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814. Plaintiff shall mail his 17 settlement conference statement so that it is received by the Court at least seven days before the 18 settlement conference. 19 In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 20 1. This action is stayed for 120 days to allow the parties an opportunity to 21 settle their dispute before the discovery process begins. Except as provided herein or by 22 subsequent court order, no other pleadings or other documents may be filed in this case during the 23 stay of this action. The parties shall not engage in formal discovery, but the parties may elect to 24 engage in informal discovery. 25 2. Within 30 days from the date of this order, Defendants shall file any 26 motion to opt out of Post-screening Early ADR. 27 /// 28 1 If the case does not settle, the Court will issue a discovery and scheduling order. 2 1 3. At least seven days prior to the settlement conference, each party shall 2 submit a confidential settlement conference statement, as described above, to the settlement 3 judge. Defense counsel shall e-mail the settlement conference statement to the settlement judge’s 4 proposed orders e-mail address. Plaintiff shall place his settlement conference statement in the 5 U.S. mail addressed to the settlement judge, United States District Court, 501 I Street, 6 Sacramento, CA 95814. Plaintiff shall mail his settlement conference statement so that it is 7 received by the court at least seven days before the settlement conference. 8 9 10 4. If a settlement is reached at any point during the stay of this action, the parties shall file a Notice of Settlement in accordance with Local Rule 160. 5. The parties remain obligated to keep the court informed of their current 11 addresses at all times during the stay and while the action is pending. Any change of address 12 must be reported promptly to the court in a separate document captioned for this case and entitled 13 “Notice of Change of Address.” See Local Rule 182(f). 14 15 Dated: September 24, 2024 ____________________________________ DENNIS M. COTA UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3

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