Stewart v. State of Nevada et al

Filing 8

ORDER that the Clerk of the Court shall electronically serve a copy of this order on the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Nevada, attention Traci Plotnick. The Attorney General's Office shall enter a limited notice of appearance on behalf of defendants and shall file a list of names of the employees who worked at Ely State Prison during September 2014 and October 2014 with some version of the name "West" or "Montoya" and their occupations at the time within 7 days from the date of this order. Signed by Magistrate Judge George Foley, Jr on 6/27/2017. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - electronically served Traci Plotnick - SLD)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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DISTRICT OF NEVADA

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Plaintiff,
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v.
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STATE OF NEVADA et al.,
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Defendants.
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___________________________________ )

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I.

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ROBERT E. STEWART,

2:16-cv-02019-JCM-GWF
ORDER

DISCUSSION

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On June 7, 2017, the Court entered a screening order permitting the equal protection

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claim to proceed against Defendants West and Montoya. (ECF No. 5 at 5). The Court stayed

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the case for ninety (90) days to give the parties an opportunity to settle their dispute. (Id.).

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The Court directed the Attorney General’s Office to advise the Court whether it would enter

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a limited notice of appearance on behalf of defendants for the purpose of settlement. (Id. at

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6).

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On June 23, 2017, the Attorney General’s Office stated that it was unable to enter a

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limited notice of appearance. (ECF No. 7 at 1). The Attorney General’s Office stated that,

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“[a]fter an internal investigation, Defendants ‘West’ and ‘Montoya’ cannot be identified. It is

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uncertain whom Plaintiff is referring to and they cannot be determined to be employees of the

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Nevada Department of Corrections.” (Id. at 1).

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The Court finds that the Attorney General’s Office’s notice is too vague. It is unclear

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to the Court what the Attorney General’s Office found during their internal investigation. The

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Court now directs the Attorney General’s Office to file a list of names of the employees who

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worked at Ely State Prison (“ESP”) during September 2014 and October 2014 with some
version of the name “West” or “Montoya” and their occupations at the time. Upon receiving

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the list, the Court will issue a separate order permitting Plaintiff to conduct limited pre-service

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discovery in an effort to ascertain the true identify of Defendants West and Montoya.

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II.

CONCLUSION

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For the foregoing reasons, IT IS ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall

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electronically SERVE a copy of this order on the Office of the Attorney General of the State

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of Nevada, attention Traci Plotnick.

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Attorney General’s Office shall enter a limited

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notice of appearance within seven (7) days on behalf of defendants for the limited purpose of

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responding to the Court’s order and for the purpose of conducting limited pre-service discovery

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in an effort to ascertain the true identities of Defendants West and Montoya.

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Attorney General’s Office shall file, within seven

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(7) days from the date of this order, a list of names of the employees who worked at Ely State

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Prison (“ESP”) during September 2014 and October 2014 with some version of the name

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“West” or “Montoya” and their occupations at the time.

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DATED: This _____ day of June, 2017.
27th

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_________________________________
United States Magistrate Judge

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