Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_90-cv-00520/USCOURTS-caed-2_90-cv-00520-1235/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 550
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Civil Rights (U.S. defendant)
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

RALPH COLEMAN, et al., 

Plaintiff, 

v. 

GAVIN NEWSOM, et al., 

Defendants. 

No. 2:90-cv-0520 KJM DB P 

ORDER 

On April 19, 2017, this court imposed a May 15, 2017 deadline for defendants to comply 

fully and permanently with Program Guide1 timelines for transfer of inmate-patients to acute and 

intermediate care facility programs. ECF No. 5610 at 13. The court further ordered that 

beginning May 16, 2017, fines in the amount of $1,000 per inmate-patient per day would 

accumulate. Id. The court set a contempt hearing for November 3, 2017 to consider whether to 

make findings of contempt and order payment of any accumulated fines. Id. The court vacated 

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 The Program Guide is one of the primary remedial plans in this action. See February 7, 

2022 Order, ECF No. 7456, at 2. In 2020, the court clarified that it will look to the finalized 

continuous quality improvement tool (CQIT) to measure compliance in this action and that 

material provisions of the Program Guide and the other primary remedial plan in this action, the 

Compendium of Custody-Related Measures (Compendium) are central to the finalized CQIT. 

September 3, 2020 Order, ECF No. 6846, at 24; see also, generally, December 17, 2020 Order, 

ECF No. 6996. An updated Program Guide was filed September 29, 2021, ECF No. 7333, and 

approved by the court in February 2022. ECF No. 7456 at 4. 

Case 2:90-cv-00520-KJM-SCR Document 7741 Filed 02/28/23 Page 1 of 2
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the contempt hearing in light of defendants’ appeal from the April 19, 2017 order. October 23, 

2017 Minute Order, ECF No. 5720. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 

dismissed defendants’ appeal for lack of jurisdiction. Coleman v. Brown, No. 17-16080 (9th Cir. 

Nov. 28, 2018). This court previously has not reset the contempt proceedings. It has not done so 

until now, in part due to proceedings on a whistleblower report initially presented to the court in 

October 2018, see, e.g., October 12, 2018 Order, ECF No. 5949, which lasted through the end of 

2019, see December 17, 2019 Order, ECF No. 6247, and required among other things ongoing 

data remediation. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 also has affected the 

resetting of contempt proceedings. In the meantime, fines totaling $1,787,156.56 have 

accumulated through January 2023. 

At the recent February 10, 2023 status conference, the court and parties discussed a time 

frame for further proceedings on compliance with the April 19, 2017 order and fines. See

Reporter’s Transcript of Proceedings (2/13/23 RT), ECF No. 7726 at 17-18. After considering 

the discussion at the status conference, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 

1. This matter is RESET for hearing on August 25, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. in Courtroom # 3 

for consideration of findings of contempt and requirement of payment of fines that 

have accumulated on or after May 16, 2017. The parties shall meet and confer and 

within twenty-one days of the filed date of this order propose to the court a schedule 

for providing the court with their positions regarding contempt findings and fines as 

well as a proposed plan for the proceedings. 

2. The Clerk of the Court is directed to serve a courtesy copy of this order on: 

Kerry K. Dean, Deputy Chief 

United States Department of Justice 

Civil Rights Division 

Special Litigation Section 

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20530 

DATED: February 27, 2023. 

Case 2:90-cv-00520-KJM-SCR Document 7741 Filed 02/28/23 Page 2 of 2