McCullock v. Scharr
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- On appeal
- Robert McCullock v. N. Scharr (2023-09-05) — affirmed — the Ninth Circuit's later ruling on this docket
- Panel
- Daniel E. Butcher (author)
Analysis
The court issued a notice to a pro se prisoner plaintiff regarding the requirements for opposing a pending motion for summary judgment. The court ordered the plaintiff to file an opposition or notice of non-opposition by March 19, 2021, and set a deadline for the defendants' reply.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Ordering Plaintiff to file an Opposition or Notice of Non-Opposition to Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment by March 19, 2021“Plaintiff may file an Opposition or a Notice of Non-Opposition to Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. No. 35) with the Court and must serve it on Defendants on or before March 19, 2021.” | agree with court The order correctly applies the procedural requirements for pro se prisoners under Ninth Circuit precedent to ensure fair notice of summary judgment standards. The deadline set is reasonable and consistent with local rules. |
Setting deadline for Defendants' Reply to be April 2, 2021“If Plaintiff files an Opposition, Defendants may file a Reply and must serve it on Plaintiff on or before April 2, 2021.” | agree with court The scheduling of the reply brief is within the court's discretion and allows adequate time for the plaintiff to respond to the motion. |
The order itself: sound — The order is a procedural notice that correctly cites the binding Ninth Circuit authority (Rand and Klingele) requiring specific notice to pro se prisoners. It accurately summarizes the Rule 56 standard and the necessity for submitting evidence rather than relying on complaint allegations. The reasoning is sound and directly addresses the procedural posture.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ROBERT McCULLOCK, Case No.: 19-cv-2110-DMS (DEB)
12 Plaintiff, ORDER PROVIDING NOTICE 13 vs. TO PRO SE PRISONER OF REQUIREMENTS FOR OPPOSING 14 N. SCHARR, et al., SUMMARY JUDGMENT 15 Defendants. PURSUANT TO KLINGELE / RAND 16 17 18 This notice is required to be given to Plaintiff pursuant to Rand v. Rowland, 154 F.3d 19 952 (9th Cir. 1998) (en banc) and Klingele v. Eikenberry, 849 F.2d 409 (9th Cir. 1988):1 20 Defendants filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, Dkt. No. 35, requesting a 21 judgment in their favor. A Motion for Summary Judgment under Rule 56 of the Federal 22 Rules of Civil Procedure will, if granted, end your case. 23 Rule 56 tells you what you must do in order to oppose a Motion for Summary 24 Judgment. Generally, summary judgment will be granted when there is no genuine dispute 25 26 27 1 Klingele and Rand together require the district court “as a bare minimum,” to ensure that a pro se prisoner has “fair notice of the requirements of the summary judgment rule.” 28 1 to any material fact—that is, if there is no real dispute about any fact that would affect 2 ||the result of your case, and the party who asked for summary judgment is entitled to 3 judgment as a matter of law. When a party you are suing makes a motion for summary 4 ||judgment that is properly supported by declarations (or other sworn testimony), you cannot 5 ||simply rely on what your complaint says. Instead, you must set out specific facts in 6 declarations, depositions, answers to interrogatories, or authenticated documents, as 7 || provided by Rule 56(e), that contradict the facts shown in the defendants’ declarations and 8 ||documents and show that there is a genuine issue of material fact for trial. If you do not 9 ||submit your own evidence in opposition, summary judgment, if appropriate, may be 10 ||entered against you. If summary judgment is entered against you, your case will be 11 || dismissed and there will be no trial. 12 Conclusion and Order Setting Briefing Schedule 13 The Court orders that: 14 1. Plaintiff may file an Opposition or a Notice of Non-Opposition to Defendants’ 15 Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. No. 35) with the Court and must serve it on 16 Defendants on or before March 19, 2021. 17 2. If Plaintiff files an Opposition, Defendants may file a Reply and must serve it on 18 Plaintiff on or before April 2, 2021. 19 Following these dates, the Court will, in its discretion, consider Defendants’ Motion 20 ||for Summary Judgment as submitted on the papers, and will issue its written opinion soon 21 ||thereafter. See CivLR 7.1(d)(1). Thus, unless otherwise ordered, no appearances are 22 ||required, and no oral argument will be heard. 23 IT IS SO ORDERED. 24 Dated: February 16, 2021 Dando oa 6 Honorable Daniel E. Butcher United States Magistrate Judge 27 28 2 □□