United States District Court, E.D. California
ORDER REFERRING CASE TO SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE BEFORE
A MAGISTRATE JUDGE ORDER DIRECTING CLERK TO SERVE SUPERVISING
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL CHRISTOPHER BECKER WITH A COPY OF: 1)
PLAINTIFF'S FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT (ECF NO. 16.); 2) THE
SCREENING ORDER (ECF NOS. 19 & 25.); AND 3) THIS ORDER
(ECF NO. 2)
Francisco
Sierra (“Plaintiff”) is a state prisoner
proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in
this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C § 1983.
The Court has screened Plaintiff's complaint and found it
states cognizable claims. At least one defendant has waived
service.
The
Court now directs the parties to participate in a settlement
conference before a Magistrate Judge to see if the case can
reach a settlement before going further in litigation.
Plaintiff will be transported to the settlement conference
and defense counsel will appear in person. Neither side is
waiving any claims, defenses or objections by participating
in this settlement conference.
If
defense counsel believes this case is not suitable for an
early settlement conference, the Court will vacate the
conference and proceed directly to litigation. Defense
counsel is directed to consider Plaintiff's claim(s) and
speak with Plaintiff following this order. If, after
investigating Plaintiff's claim(s) and speaking with
Plaintiff, and conferring with defense counsel's
supervisor, defense counsel in good faith finds that a
settlement conference would be unproductive, defense counsel
may opt out of this settlement conference by filing a notice
with the Court.
If
defense counsel does not opt out of the settlement
conference, the Court will issue separate order(s) setting
the settlement conference and detailing the pre-settlement
conference procedures in due course.
Two
weeks after the issuance of the order setting the settlement
conference, in order to better inform the parties and have a
meaningful conference, the Court is requiring that both
parties disclose certain documents to each other about the
case, as listed below. These documents are relevant to the
case and will most likely be disclosed in discovery shortly
if this case goes to litigation.[1]
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. Within thirty days from the date of service of this order,
the assigned Deputy Attorney General shall either: (1) file a
notice that Defendants want to opt out of the settlement
conference; or (2) contact ADR Coordinator Sujean Park
(spark@caed.uscourts.gov) to schedule the settlement
conference.[2]
2. If a settlement conference is set, no later than two weeks
after the date of service of the order setting the settlement
conference, each party shall send the other parties, or their
attorneys (if represented), the documents listed below. The
parties only need to provide documents related to the
claim(s) that the Court allowed past the screening stage.
Additionally, defense counsel does not need to include any
documents that defense counsel believes are confidential or
subject to the official information privilege at this time.
Plaintiff only needs to provide these documents if Plaintiff
already has them in his or her possession. Defense counsel
shall send copies of the following documents to Plaintiff and
Plaintiff shall send copies to counsel for Defendants):
a. Documents regarding exhaustion of Plaintiff s claims,
including 602s, Form 22s, and responses from the appeals
office;
b. All non-confidential documents regarding Rules Violation
Reports, if any exist, associated with the incidents) alleged
in the complaint, including disciplinary charges and
findings;
c. All of Plaintiff s medical records related to the incident
and/or condition at issue in the case, if any exist; and
d. Chronos for transfer or Administrative Segregation
placement related to the incidents) alleged in the complaint,
if any exist.
Additionally, the parties may send any other documents
related to the case that the parties believe will assist in
the settlement conference.
3. The parties remain obligated to keep the court informed of
their current address. Any change of address must be reported
promptly to the Court in a separate document captioned for
this case and entitled ...