Gale J. Young v. C. Patino

Opinion

1 4 5 GALE J. YOUNG, No. 1:24-cv-00776-KES-SAB (PC) 6 Plaintiff, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION TO DENY PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR 7 v. SUMMARY JUDGMENT, WITHOUT PREJUDICE, AS PREMATURE, AND DENY 8 C. PATINO, DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE OPPOSITION AS MOOT 9 Defendant. (ECF Nos. 57, 61 ) 10

11 12 Plaintiff is proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this action filed pursuant to 42 13 U.S.C. § 1983. 14 Currently before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, filed February 17, 15 2026. (ECF No. 57.) On March 9, 2026, Defendant filed a motion for a 150-day extension of 16 time to file an opposition to Plaintiff’s motion to correlate to the dispositive motion deadline. 17 (ECF No. 61.) For the reasons explained below, Plaintiff’s motion must be denied and 18 Defendant’s motion for an extension of time shall be denied as rendered moot. 19 I. 21 “The court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine 22 dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. 23 Civ. P. 56(a). A party moving for summary judgment must include a “Statement of Undisputed 24 Facts.” Local Rule 260(a). Furthermore, this Court’s local rule requires each motion of summary 25 judgment to include “a ‘Statement of Undisputed Facts’ that shall enumerate discretely each of 26 the specific material facts relied upon in support of the motion and cite the particular points of 27 any pleading, affidavit, deposition, interrogatory answer, admission, or other document relied 28 1 upon to establish that fact.” To establish the absence of a genuine factual dispute, Plaintiff must 2 cite “to particular parts of materials in the record, including depositions, documents, 3 electronically stored information, affidavits or declarations, stipulations (including those made for 4 purposes of the motion only), admissions, interrogatory answers, or other materials ...” Fed. R. 5 Civ. P. 56(c)(1)(A); see also Local Rule 260(a). Plaintiff’s motion fails to comport with Fed. R. 6 Civ. P. 56(a) and Local Rule 260(a). 7 This action is proceeding against Defendant Patino for denial of visitation privileges with 8 this family while detained at Corcoran State Prison. 9 Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment is premature. This case is currently in the 10 discovery phase which remains open until May 26, 2026. (ECF No. 52.) Defendant is entitled to 11 an opportunity to pursue discovery before responding to a summary judgment motion, and 12 without such opportunity Defendant cannot properly evaluate the merits and/or defenses to 13 Plaintiff’s claim. Accordingly, Plaintiff may file a motion for summary judgment that 14 incorporates after obtaining all relevant materials following completion of discovery as 15 contemplated by Rule 56. See, e.g., Moore v. Hubbard, No. CIV S-06-2187 FCD EFB P, 2009 16 WL 688897, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 13, 2009) (recommending that pre-discovery motion for 17 summary judgment be denied as premature); see also Burlington N. Santa Fe R.R. Co. v. 18 Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes of Fort Peck Reservation, 323 F.3d 767, 773 (9th Cir. 2003) (noting 19 that when “a summary judgment motion is filed so early in the litigation, before a party has had 20 any realistic opportunity to pursue discovery relating to its theory of the case,” the district court 21 should grant requests by non-movants to take discovery prior to considering the motion for 22 summary judgment); Vining v. Runyon, 99 F.3d 1056, 1058 (11th Cir. 1996) (“A premature 23 decision on summary judgment impermissibly deprives the [defendants] of their right to utilize 24 the discovery process to discover the facts necessary to justify their opposition to the motion”). 25 In addition, Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment fails to comply with Local Rule 26 260(a), which requires that “[e]ach motion for summary judgment or summary adjudication shall 27 be accompanied by a ‘Statement of Undisputed Facts’ that shall enumerate discretely each of the 28 specific material relied upon in support of the motion and cite the particular portions of any 1 | pleading, affidavit, deposition, interrogatory answer, admission, or other document relied upon to 2 | establish that fact.” Compliance with Local Rule 260(a) is mandatory. Plaintiff's failure to 3 | include a Statement of Undisputed Facts with his summary judgment motion renders his summary 4 | judgment motion procedurally defective. Plaintiff is cautioned that any future motion for 5 | summary judgment must include a “Statement of Undisputed Facts” and must otherwise comply 6 | with the Local Rules. Accordingly, Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment should be denied, 7 | without prejudice, as premature. 8 Il. 10 Based on the foregoing, it is HEREBY RECOMMENDED that: 11 1. Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment (ECF No. 57) be denied, without 12 prejudice, as premature; and 13 2. Defendant’s motion for an extension of time to file an opposition (ECF No. 61) be 14 denied as rendered moot. 15 These Findings and Recommendations will be submitted to the United States District 16 | Judge assigned to the case, pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(I). Within fourteen 17 | (14) days after being served with these Findings and Recommendations, the parties may file 18 | written objections with the Court, limited to 15 pages in length, including exhibits. The 19 | document should be captioned “Objections to Magistrate Judge’s Findings and 20 | Recommendations.” The parties are advised that failure to file objections within the specified 21 | time may result in the waiver of rights on appeal. Wilkerson v. Wheeler, 772 F.3d 834, 838-39 22 | (9th Cir. 2014) (citing Baxter v. Sullivan, 923 F.2d 1391, 1394 (9th Cir. 1991)). 23 24 | IT IS SO ORDERED. Bc | Dated: _March 10, 2026 OF Al 26 STANLEY A. BOONE 37 United States Magistrate Judge 28