Wills v. City of Monterey ( 2024 )

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 CYNTHIA S WILLS, Case No. 21-cv-01998-EMC (LJC) 8 Plaintiff, ORDER REGARDING DISCOVERY IN 9 v. LIGHT OF SUPREME COURT DECISION 10 CITY OF MONTEREY, et al., Re: Dkt. No. 190 Defendants. 11 12 Defendant the City of Monterey asserts in an August 2, 2024 letter brief that the Court 13 should limit discovery from the City in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in City of 14 Grants Pass v. Johnson, 144 S. Ct. 2202 (2024). ECF No. 190. Whether Grants Pass forecloses 15 or affects the scope of pro se Plaintiff Cynthia Wills’s Eighth Amendment claim against the City 16 is the subject of a motion for judgment on the pleadings that is currently set for a September 12, 17 2024 hearing before Judge Chen. The effect of Grants Pass is an issue for Judge Chen to decide 18 on that motion. 19 In the meantime, the deadline to complete fact discovery is August 29, 2024. In the 20 absence of an order by Judge Chen altering that deadline or dismissing Wills’s claim, this Court 21 must ensure discovery on that claim is completed by that impending deadline. If the City seeks 22 relief from discovery in light of Grants Pass, the City must bring a motion before Judge Chen 23 either to stay discovery on Wills’s claim against the City pending resolution of the motion for 24 judgment on the pleading, or to continue the fact discovery deadline until a time after that motion 25 is likely to be resolved. The City must present that motion to stay or continue in a manner that 26 would allow Judge Chen to resolve it with meaningful time remaining before the discovery cutoff, 27 which may require the City also to bring a motion to shorten time for briefing under Civil Local 1 Civil Local Rule 7-3(a) within fourteen days, or respond to and oppose a motion to change time 2 within four days under Civil Local Rule 6-3(b), unless the Court modifies the briefing schedule 3 and orders a different deadline. 4 If no such motion is filed by August 8, 2024, this Court will proceed to evaluate the 5 || parties’ discovery dispute on the assumption—for the sake of argument—that the City’s motion 6 || for judgment on the pleadings will be denied. This Court is obligated to ensure that necessary 7 discovery will be completed before the current deadline in the event that Judge Chen later denies 8 || judgment on the pleadings. 9 Wills is pro se and does not participate in electronic filing or notification. The City is 10 || therefore ORDERED to notify Wills of this Order and of the City’s intended course of action by 11 telephone no later than August 6, 2024. The City must also telephonically notify Wills of any 12 || motion that it files in response to this Order on the same day that such a motion is filed. 5 13 IT IS SO ORDERED. 14 Dated: August 5, 2024 Zz A 16 wn, | sarin —— ‘A J. CISNEROS 17 ited States Magistrate Judge 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28