GUMM v. JACOBS et al

Filing 354

ORDER GRANTING 308 Motion for Order to Show Cause; and DENYING as moot 305 Motion for Reconsideration re 304 Order for Response filed by TIMOTHY DENVER GUMM. The defendants are hereby ORDERED TO SHOW CAUSE at the hearing set for June 22, 2022, at 9:30 AM why they should not be held in contempt of the Court's May 7, 2019 Order and Permanent Injunction adopting the terms of the Parties' Settlement Agreement. The plaintiffs are ORDERED to file their assessment of the defendants' audit by June 17, 2022. Ordered by CHIEF DISTRICT JUDGE MARC T TREADWELL on 6/7/2022. (kat)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
MACON DIVISION
TIMOTHY GUMM, et al.,
Plaintiffs,
v.
BENJAMIN FORD, et al.,
Defendants.
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CIVIL ACTION NO. 5:15-cv-41 (MTT)

ORDER
Plaintiff Timothy Gumm brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to challenge
unconstitutional conditions and practices in the defendants’ Tier III Program at the
Special Management Unit located within the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification
Prison. Doc. 1. After extensive discovery and briefing on the plaintiffs’ motions for
class certification and preliminary injunctive relief, the parties reached an agreement in
December 2018 to certify a settlement class and settle the declaratory and injunctive
relief claims raised in the case. Doc. 207. The Court issued its Final Order and
Permanent Injunction on May 7, 2019, that certified a settlement class, granted final
approval of the Settlement Agreement, and adopted the Settlement Agreement as the
Order of the Court. Doc. 256.
On January 28, 2022, the plaintiffs moved the Court for an order that directs the
defendants to show cause why they should not be held in contempt for violating the
terms of the Settlement Agreement. Doc. 308. In that motion, the plaintiffs contend
“[d]efendants are violating nearly every substantive provision of the Settlement

Agreement, and this Court has the power to enforce its order through civil contempt.”
Id. at 1. A motion hearing was held on April 26, 2022, in which the defendants
conceded certain provisions of the Settlement Agreement were not being met. Doc.
342. Given that concession, the Court ordered the defendants to perform an audit to
determine the extent to which the requirements of the Settlement Agreement have been
met and further ordered the Settlement Agreement extended by 60 days to give the
parties sufficient time to receive and review the audit results. Docs. 342 at 2; 343 at 2.
With that audit now received (Doc. 352), the Court is satisfied the plaintiffs have
“state[d] a case of non-compliance” and sufficient grounds exist for an order to show
cause. Reynolds v. Roberts, 207 F.3d 1288, 1298 (11th Cir. 2000)
The plaintiffs’ motion for an order to show cause (Doc. 308) is GRANTED.
Accordingly, the defendants are hereby ORDERED TO SHOW CAUSE at the hearing
set for June 22, 2022, at 9:30 AM why they should not be held in contempt of the
Court’s May 7, 2019 Order and Permanent Injunction adopting the terms of the Parties’
Settlement Agreement. Docs. 256; 256-1. The plaintiffs are ORDERED to file their
assessment of the defendants’ audit by June 17, 2022. 1
SO ORDERED, this 7th day of June, 2022.
S/ Marc T. Treadwell
MARC T. TREADWELL, CHIEF JUDGE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

Given the above, the plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration (Doc. 305) of the Court’s Order (Doc. 304) that
directed the parties to confer regarding the alleged violations of the Settlement Agreement is DENIED as
moot.
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