(PC) Israel v. Shmary

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedJuly 9, 2025
Docket2:21-cv-00262
StatusUnknown

This text of (PC) Israel v. Shmary ((PC) Israel v. Shmary) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
(PC) Israel v. Shmary, (E.D. Cal. 2025).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 AKIVA AVIKAIDA ISRAEL, No. 2:21-cv-00262-TLN-EFB (PC) 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER AND AMENDED SCHEDULE 14 SHMARYAHU BROWNSTEIN, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in an action brought under 42 18 U.S.C. § 1983. The case proceeds on plaintiff’s first amended complaint, which states potentially 19 cognizable claims of (1) violation of the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and 20 Institutionalized Persons Act by various defendants for denying plaintiff kosher meals, (2) 21 discrimination in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment by defendant Brownstein (aka “Rabbi 22 Shmary”), and (3) retaliation in violation of the First Amendment by defendant Safanov. ECF 23 Nos. 26, 28. Currently before the court are: 24 Plaintiff’s two requests for judicial notice, ECF No. 100 (request), ECF No. 101 (request), 25 ECF No. 102 (opposition). 26 Plaintiff’s motion for protective order, ECF No. 103 (motion), ECF No. 105 (response in 27 opposition). 28 //// 1 Plaintiff’s (second) motion for protective order, ECF No. 104 (motion), ECF No. 105 2 (response in opposition). 3 Plaintiff’s motion for relief or other appropriate remedies, ECF No. 106 (motion), ECF 4 No. 108 (response in opposition). 5 Plaintiff’s motion to compel, ECF No. 107 (motion), ECF No. 112 (response in 6 opposition). 7 Plaintiff’s motion to reopen discovery, ECF No. 113 (motion), ECF No. 114 (amended 8 motion), ECF No. 115 (response, withdrawn by ECF No. 116), ECF No. 117 (amended 9 response). 10 Defendant’s motion to compel, ECF No. 105 (motion). 11 Defendants also request an extension of the discovery cut-off deadline to allow them to 12 complete plaintiff’s deposition, and a warning to plaintiff that failure to comply may result in 13 dismissal, ECF No. 105 (request). 14 For the reasons that follow, the court will: (1) partially grant plaintiff’s second request for 15 judicial notice and otherwise deny both requests; (2) grant defendant’s motion to compel 16 plaintiff’s deposition; (3) deny as moot plaintiff’s motions for protective order and “relief or other 17 appropriate measures;” (4) deny as moot plaintiff’s motion to compel; (5) deny plaintiff’s motion 18 to reopen discovery; and (6) modify the scheduling order to allow time for completion of 19 discovery and filing of dispositive motions. 20 Plaintiff’s Requests For Judicial Notice 21 A. First Request (ECF No. 100) 22 Plaintiff asks the court to take judicial notice of her account of events in about December 23 2024 and January 2025 regarding her efforts to have access to her legal documents since she was 24 moved to the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility (RJDCF) on December 6, 2024, including 25 her account of when she made her requests, and to whom, and the responses she received, and her 26 communications with attorneys from the California Attorney General’s Office about these 27 matters. ECF No. 100 at 1-4. Plaintiff appends copies of her written requests, email 28 correspondence, phone call logs, grievances, health care records, a classification chrono, and 1 lockdown orders. Id. at 5-33. 2 Defendants object that plaintiff’s narratives and allegations are not judicially noticeable, 3 are subject to reasonable dispute, and cannot be accurately determined. ECF No. 102 at 1-2. 4 Defendants’ arguments are correct. 5 A court must take judicial notice of adjudicative facts if a party requests it, and the court is 6 supplied with the necessary information. Fed. R. Evid. 201(c)(2). The kinds of facts that may be 7 judicially noticed are only those that are generally known within the court’s territorial jurisdiction 8 or can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be 9 questioned. Fed. R. Evid. 201(b). The purpose of judicial notice is to eliminate “the need for 10 formal fact-finding as to certain facts that are undisputed and easily verified.” Walker v. 11 Woodford, 454 F. Supp. 2d 1007, 1022 (S.D. Cal. 2006). 12 Plaintiff’s first request for judicial notice fails these criteria. Her request relates to her 13 personal experiences, circumstances, and communications, which are not facts that can be 14 accurately and readily determined from independent sources and are not facts that are generally 15 known within the court’s jurisdiction. See Fed. R. Evid. 201(b). The court may not take judicial 16 notice of disputed facts that are stated or implied in the documents for which plaintiff requests 17 judicial notice. Walker, 454 F. Supp. 2d at 1022; see also United States v. Ritchie, 342 F.3d 903, 18 909 (9th Cir. 2003) (declining to take judicial notice of documents attempting to establish “[t]he 19 underlying facts relevant to the adjudication of this case” and which “do not remotely fit the 20 requirements of Rule 201”); Von Grabe v. Sprint PCS, 312 F. Supp. 2d 1285, 1311 (S.D. Cal. 21 2003) (“courts have found the taking of judicial notice to be inappropriate in matters requiring 22 detailed or specific knowledge” (citing U.S. v. Marsical, 285 F.3d 1127, 1132 (9th Cir. 2002))). 23 Judicial notice is not appropriate for establishing argumentative assertions such as 24 unreasonable delay, prejudicial effect, and preferential treatment of other inmates. See Johnson v. 25 Napa Valley Wine Train, Inc., No. 15-cv-04515-TEH, 2016 WL 493229, at *14 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 26 9, 2016) (denying request for judicial notice that would have required the court to make “an 27 inferential leap” about the information stated in the records). Plaintiff’s requests for judicial 28 notice are essentially an attempt to establish her factual contentions as a party to this litigation. 1 Plaintiff’s contentions must be resolved through the usual process for adjudication of disputed 2 facts. For all these reasons, the court will deny plaintiff’s first request for judicial notice in its 3 entirety.1 4 B. Second Request (ECF No. 101) 5 Plaintiff makes a second, similar request for judicial notice of another account of events 6 that occurred in about the same time frame, also describing her efforts to have access to her stored 7 legal documents. ECF No. 101 at 2-5. She makes argumentative assertions of unreasonable 8 delay, prejudicial effect, and preferential treatment of other inmates. Id. at 4. She appends copies 9 of her requests and correspondence with prison officials, a related grievance, and health care 10 records. Id. at 6-41. 11 What most distinguishes plaintiff’s second request from her first request, is that it contains 12 a pleading captioned for filing in a case plaintiff is litigating in the Central District of California, 13 docketed at Israel v. Moreno, No. 2:23-cv-02383-JGB (SK) (C.D. Cal.) [hereinafter the “Moreno 14 case”]. The court may take judicial notice of court records. MGIC Indem. Co. v. Weisman, 803 15 F.2d 500, 505 (9th Cir. 1986); United States v. Wilson, 631 F.2d 118, 119 (9th Cir. 1980). The 16 court takes judicial notice that plaintiff did in fact file this pleading in the Central District of 17 California in the Moreno case (at ECF No.

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Bluebook (online)
(PC) Israel v. Shmary, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pc-israel-v-shmary-caed-2025.