(PC) Madrid v. Anglea ( 2021 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ALEJANDRO MADRID, Case No. 1:19-cv-01456-NONE-JLT (PC) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO STAY RESOLUTION OF 13 v. DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT 14 H. ANGLEA, (Doc. 50) 15 Defendant. 16 17 On August 2, 2021, Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment on the grounds that 18 Plaintiff failed to exhaust administrative remedies prior to filing suit. (Doc. 47.) On August 10, 19 2021, the Court stayed discovery on non-exhaustion related issues until the Court rules on 20 Defendant’s motion. (Doc. 49.) The Court additionally vacated the deadline for Defendant to file 21 an opposition to Plaintiff’s pending merits-based motion for summary judgment. (Id. at 1-2.) 22 On August 26, 2021, Plaintiff filed a motion to stay resolution of Defendant’s exhaustion- 23 based motion for summary judgment. (Doc. 50.) Plaintiff appears to argue that resolution of his 24 merits-based motion for summary judgment (Doc. 39) will dispose of this case, and that 25 conducting discovery related to “competing summary judgment motions” would be a waste of 26 resources. (See Doc. 50 at 1-2.) 27 First, as stated above, the Court already stayed discovery on non-exhaustion-related 28 matters and vacated the deadline for Defendant to respond to Plaintiff’s merits-based motion for 1 summary judgment. Thus, the parties are not obligated—and indeed may not—conduct discovery 2 regarding Plaintiff’s merits-based motion for summary judgment. Thus, there is no potential for 3 wasting resources on “competing motions.” 4 Second, the Ninth Circuit has held that “[e]xhaustion should be decided, if feasible, before 5 reaching the merits of a prisoner’s claim[s].” Albino v. Baca, 747 F.3d 1162, 1170 (9th Cir. 6 2014). The reason for this is that exhaustion of administrative remedies is mandatory and 7 “unexhausted claims cannot be brought in court.” Jones v. Bock, 549 U.S. 199, 211 (citation 8 omitted). Thus, “exhaustion is analogous to subject-matter jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction, 9 venue, and abstention, in that all these matters are typically decided at the outset of the litigation.” 10 Albino, 747 F.3d at 1170. Thus, the Court DENIES Plaintiff’s motion to stay resolution of 11 Defendant’s exhaustion-based motion for summary judgment. 12 IT IS SO ORDERED. 13 14 Dated: August 26, 2021 _ /s/ Jennifer L. Thurston CHIEF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28