Karnoski et al v. Trump et al

Filing 477

ORDER granting Plaintiff's 364 Renewed MOTION to Compel Documents Withheld Under the Deliberative Process Privilege. The Court will hold its next status conference on May 7, 2020. Signed by Judge Marsha J. Pechman. (PM)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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RYAN KARNOSKI, et al.,
Plaintiffs,

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CASE NO. C17-1297 MJP
ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO
COMPEL; SETTING DEADLINES

v.
APRIL 2, 2020 CONFERENCE

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DONALD J TRUMP, et al.,
Defendants.
THIS MATTER comes before the Court on Plaintiffs’ Renewed Motion to Compel
Documents Withheld Under the Deliberative Process Privilege (Dkt. No. 364), and upon the
Parties’ Joint Status Report (Dkt. No. 469). Having reviewed the Motion, the Joint Status
Report, and all related papers, and having heard from the Parties (Dkt. No. 474), the Court
GRANTS Plaintiffs’ Motion and sets the deadlines outlined below.
During the Court’s April 2, 2020 Status Conference, the Parties informed the Court that
they would work toward resolving disputes related to Plaintiffs’ first 20 prioritized Requests for
Production. If the Parties are unable to resolve disputes regarding these Requests, they will bring
Joint Motions under Local Rule 37.

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ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO COMPEL; SETTING DEADLINES - 1

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The Parties also agreed to meet and confer regarding Plaintiffs’ remaining 87 Requests.

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However, Plaintiffs asked that Defendants first be required to revise their boilerplate assertion of

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the deliberative process privilege in response to each of these Requests. As the Court has stated

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before, Defendants must revise their boilerplate responses to Plaintiffs’ Requests in order to

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narrow the scope of the dispute and permit Plaintiffs and the Court to review Defendants’

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privilege assertions. (See e.g., Dkt. No. 412 at 57:8-17.) Therefore, for the remaining 87

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Requests for Production the Court ORDERS as follows:

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(1)

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By April 21, 2020 Defendants are to produce revised responses to 43 of the
remaining 87 Requests, eliminating any boilerplate privilege assertions and

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asserting privileges only where applicable to specific Requests. The Parties will

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then meet and confer regarding those responses;

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(2)

By May 6, 2020 Defendants must produce revised responses to the remaining 44

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Requests. The Parties will then meet and confer regarding the second set of

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responses;

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(3)

The Court will hold its next status conference on May 7, 2020.

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The clerk is ordered to provide copies of this order to all counsel.

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Dated April 6, 2020.

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A

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Marsha J. Pechman
United States District Judge

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APRIL 2, 2020 CONFERENCE - 2