Emery v. Oregon Department of Corrections

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Decided: October 22, 2025
• Docket: 24-6602
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS OCT 22 2025 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

ROBERT L. EMERY, JR., No. 24-6602 D.C. No. 2:22-cv-01977-MC Plaintiff - Appellant,

v. MEMORANDUM*

OREGON DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, ODOC and Agency of the State of Oregon; A. EYNON, Grievance Coordinator at TRCI; H. ROSSI, Staff Member (TRCI); JOHN AND JANE DOES, Staff Members at TRCI; ERIN REYES, Superintendent of TRCI; Captain RUMSEY, Assistant Superintendent of Security at TRCI,

Defendants - Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon Michael J. McShane, District Judge, Presiding

Submitted October 15, 2025**

Before: FRIEDLAND, MILLER, and SANCHEZ, Circuit Judges.

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). Oregon state prisoner Robert L. Emery, Jr., appeals pro se from the district

court’s summary judgment in his 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action challenging the lighting

conditions in his cell. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de

novo. Grenning v. Miller-Stout, 739 F.3d 1235, 1238 (9th Cir. 2014). We affirm.

The district court properly granted summary judgment because Emery failed

to raise a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether defendants subjected him

to a sufficiently serious deprivation that denied him the minimal civilized measure

of life’s necessities and whether defendants were deliberately indifferent to a

serious risk to Emery’s health in connection with the lighting in his cell. See

Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 834 (1994) (setting forth elements of an Eighth

Amendment conditions-of-confinement claim).

The district court did not abuse its discretion by denying Emery’s motion for

an extension of time to submit additional evidence in response to defendants’

motion for summary judgment after briefing on the motion was complete because

Emery failed to demonstrate good cause. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(b)(1) (“When an

act may or must be done within a specified time, the court may, for good cause,

extend the time . . . on motion made after the time has expired if the party failed to

act because of excusable neglect.”); Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., 624 F.3d

1253, 1258-59 (9th Cir. 2010) (setting forth standard of review and good cause

requirement for extensions of time).

2 24-6602 The district court did not abuse its discretion by denying Emery’s motions to

appoint counsel because Emery did not demonstrate exceptional circumstances.

See Agyeman v. Corr. Corp. of Am., 390 F.3d 1101, 1103 (9th Cir. 2004) (setting

forth standard of review and “exceptional circumstances” requirement).

The district court did not abuse its discretion by denying Emery’s motions to

compel discovery because Emery failed to establish a basis for such relief. See

Hallett v. Morgan, 296 F.3d 732, 751 (9th Cir. 2002) (setting forth standard of

review and explaining that a decision to deny a motion to compel discovery will

not be disturbed without “actual and substantial prejudice to the complaining

litigant” (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)).

We do not consider matters not specifically and distinctly raised and argued

in the opening brief, or arguments raised for the first time on appeal. See Padgett

v. Wright, 587 F.3d 983, 985, 985 n.2 (9th Cir. 2009). We do not consider

documents or facts not presented to the district court. See United States v. Elias,

92 F.2d 870, 874 (9th Cir. 1990).

Emery’s request to supplement the excerpts of record, set forth in Docket

Entry No. 28, is denied.

AFFIRMED.

3 24-6602