Thompson v. Russell et al

Filing 16

ORDER denying Plaintiff's request for fellow inmate William R. Lyons to be present to help him during hearings and conferences in this action, including the mediation conference scheduled for May 14, 2024. Plaintiff will participate in t he mediation conference without assistance from a fellow inmate, however, the NDOC will accommodate Plaintiff's hearing impairment by offering him a new pair of hearing aids before the conference and placing him in a quiet room with access to a landline telephone during the conference. Signed by Magistrate Judge Craig S. Denney on 5/8/2024. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - HJ)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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DISTRICT OF NEVADA

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***

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DAVID THOMPSON,
v.

Case No. 3:23-cv-00341-MMD-CSD
Plaintiff,

ORDER

PERRY RUSSELL, et al.,
Defendants.

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Plaintiff filed a notice that he is hearing impaired and requesting that fellow inmate

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William R. Lyons be present to help him during hearings and conferences in this action,

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including the mediation conference scheduled for May 14, 2024. (ECF No. 8). Interested

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Party Nevada Department of Corrections (“NDOC”) timely objected to Plaintiff’s request

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for Lyons’s assistance, arguing it raises confidentiality, conflict, and unlawful-practice-of-

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law concerns. (ECF No. 15). The NDOC highlights that Lyons is not an attorney and is

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pursuing his own civil-rights action about the incident that is at issue in this action. (Id. at

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3–4). But the NDOC agrees to accommodate Plaintiff’s hearing impairment at the

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mediation conference in three ways.

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First, Plaintiff will be offered a new pair of hearing aids, which should arrive before

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the conference. (ECF No. 15-1 at 3). Second, Plaintiff will be placed in a quiet room for

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the mediation conference. (Id.) Third, Plaintiff will have access to a landline telephone

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that he can use during the mediation conference if he is unable to hear the Zoom video

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call audio. (Id.)

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The NDOC raises legitimate concerns about permitting Lyons to assist Plaintiff in

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this action. And the solutions it proposes appear reasonably calculated to accommodate

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Plaintiff’s hearing disability during the mediation conference.

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It is therefore ordered that the NDOC’s objection to Plaintiff’s request to have fellow

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inmate William Lyons present to help him during hearings and conferences in this action

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(ECF No. 15) is sustained, and Plaintiff’s request for that relief (ECF No. 8) is denied.

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It is further ordered that Plaintiff will participate in the mediation conference without

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assistance from a fellow inmate, however, the NDOC will accommodate Plaintiff’s hearing

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impairment by offering him a new pair of hearing aids before the conference and placing

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him in a quiet room with access to a landline telephone during the conference.

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DATED THIS 8th day of May 2024.
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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