(PC) O'Brien v. Diaz

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedMay 24, 2022
Docket1:21-cv-00856
StatusUnknown

This text of (PC) O'Brien v. Diaz ((PC) O'Brien v. Diaz) 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) O'Brien v. Diaz, (E.D. Cal. 2022).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10

11 KORY T. O’BRIEN, ) Case No.: 1:21-cv-00856-JLT-SAB (PC) ) 12 Plaintiff, ) ) ORDER REGARDING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION 13 v. ) TO COMPEL

14 RITA DIAZ, et al., ) (ECF No. 30) )

15 Defendants. ) ) 16 ) ) 17 )

18 Plaintiff Kory T. O’Brien is proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action 19 pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 20 Currently before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion to compel, filed April 1, 2022. 21 I. 22 PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 23 This action is proceeding against Defendants R. Diaz and J. Moore for retaliation in violation 24 of the First Amendment. 25 On November 10, 2021, the Court set the case for settlement conference before Magistrate 26 Judge Barbara A. McAuliffe and stayed the case for seventy days. (ECF No. 21.) On November 16, 27 2021, Defendants exercised their right to opt-out of the settlement conference. (ECF No. 22.) 28 1 Therefore, on November 17, 2021, the Court vacated the settlement conference, lifted the stay, and 2 directed the Clerk of Court to issue the discovery and scheduling order. (ECF Nos. 23, 24.) 3 On April 1, 2022, Plaintiff filed the instant motion to compel. (ECF No. 30.) Defendants filed 4 an opposition on April 12, 2022, and Plaintiff did not file a reply. (ECF No. 31.) 5 II. 6 LEGAL STANDRD 7 Plaintiff is proceeding pro se and he is a state prisoner challenging his conditions of 8 confinement. As a result, the parties were relieved of some of the requirements which would 9 otherwise apply, including initial disclosure and the need to meet and confer in good faith prior to 10 involving the Court in a discovery dispute. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1); Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c); Fed. R. Civ. 11 P. 37(a)(1); Local Rules 240, 251; ECF No. 24. Further, where otherwise discoverable information 12 would pose a threat to the safety and security of the prison or infringe upon a protected privacy 13 interest, a need may arise for the Court to balance interests in determining whether disclosure should 14 occur. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c); Seattle Times Co. v. Rhinehart, 467 U.S. 20, 35 n.21 (1984) (privacy 15 rights or interests implicit in broad purpose and language of Rule 26(c)); Burlington N. & Santa Fe 16 Ry. Co. v. United States Dist. Court for the Dist. of Montana, 408 F.3d 1142, 1149 (9th Cir. 2005) 17 (discussing assertion of privilege); Soto v. City of Concord, 162 F.R.D. 603, 616 (N.D. Cal. 1995) 18 (recognizing a constitutionally-based right of privacy that can be raised in discovery); see also Garcia 19 v. Clark, No. 1:10-CV-00447-LJO-DLB PC, 2012 WL 1232315, at *6 n.5 (E.D. Cal. Apr. 12, 2012) 20 (noting inmate’s entitlement to inspect discoverable information may be accommodated in ways which 21 mitigate institutional safety concerns); Robinson v. Adams, No. 1:08-cv-01380-AWI-BAM PC, 2012 22 WL 912746, at *2-3 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 16, 2012) (issuing protective order regarding documents 23 containing information which implicated the safety and security of the prison); Orr v. Hernandez, No. 24 CV-08-0472-JLQ, 2012 WL 761355, at *1-2 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 7, 2012) (addressing requests for 25 protective order and for redaction of information asserted to risk jeopardizing safety and security of 26 inmates or the institution if released); Womack v. Virga, No. CIV S-11-1030 MCE EFB P, 2011 WL 27 6703958, at *5-6 (E.D. Cal. Dec. 21, 2011) (requiring defendants to submit withheld documents for in 28 camera review or move for a protective order). 1 However, this is a civil action to which the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure apply. The 2 discovery process is subject to the overriding limitation of good faith, and callous disregard of 3 discovery responsibilities cannot be condoned. Asea, Inc. v. Southern Pac. Transp. Co., 669 F.2d 4 1242, 1246 (9th Cir. 1981) (quotation marks and citation omitted). “Parties may obtain discovery 5 regarding any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense and proportional to 6 the needs of the case, considering the importance of the issues at stake in the action, the amount in 7 controversy, the parties’ relative access to relevant information, the parties’ resources, the importance 8 of the discovery in resolving the issues, and whether the burden or expense of the proposed discovery 9 outweighs its likely benefit.” Fed R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1). 10 Generally, if the responding party objects to a discovery request, the party moving to compel 11 bears the burden of demonstrating why the objections are not justified. Grabek v. Dickinson, No. CIV 12 S-10-2892 GGH P, 2012 WL 113799, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 13, 2012); Womack, 2011 WL 6703958, at 13 *3; Mitchell v. Felker, No. CV 08-119RAJ, 2010 WL 3835765, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Sep. 29, 2010); Ellis 14 v. Cambra, No. 1:02-cv-05646-AWI-SMS PC, 2008 WL 860523, at *4 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 27, 2008). 15 This requires the moving party to inform the Court which discovery requests are the subject of the 16 motion to compel, and, for each disputed response, why the information sought is relevant and why 17 the responding party’s objections are not meritorious. Grabek, 2012 WL 113799, at *1; Womack, 18 2011 WL 6703958, at *3; Mitchell, 2010 WL 3835765, at *2; Ellis, 2008 WL 860523, at *4. 19 However, the Court is vested with broad discretion to manage discovery and notwithstanding these 20 procedures, Plaintiff is entitled to leniency as a pro se litigant; therefore, to the extent possible, the 21 Court endeavors to resolve his motion to compel on its merits. Hunt v. County of Orange, 672 F.3d 22 606, 616 (9th Cir. 2012); Surfvivor Media, Inc. v. Survivor Productions, 406 F.3d 625, 635 (9th Cir. 23 2005); Hallett v. Morgan, 296 F.3d 732, 751 (9th Cir. 2002). 24 III. 25 DISCUSSION 26 Plaintiff seeks an order compelling Defendants to produce documents in response to his 27 request for production of documents, set number one. 28 /// 1 Defendants oppose Plaintiff’s motion and argue that he has not established that they failed to 2 properly respond to any request for production, and Defendants have produced all documents that they 3 indicated would be produced, with the exception of a further response to Request No. 6 by Defendant 4 Diaz and further response to Request No. 5 by Defendant Moore. 5 A. Defendant Diaz 6 In his motion to compel, Plaintiff specifically seeks responses from Defendant Diaz to his 7 request for production numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 10. 8 1. Request for Production No. 2 9 Request No. 2: “Any and all writings, as defined by Federal Rules of Evidence

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Bluebook (online)
(PC) O'Brien v. Diaz, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pc-obrien-v-diaz-caed-2022.