Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_12-cv-02313/USCOURTS-casd-3_12-cv-02313-2/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

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

DANNY MONTANA GUERRA,

Plaintiff, 

v.

G.J. JANDA, et al.,

Defendants.

 

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Civil No.12-2313-BEN(WVG)

ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S

MOTION FOR TEMPORARY STAY

OF PROCEEDINGS

(DOC. NO. 15)

On September 4, 2013, Plaintiff Danny Montana Guerra

(“Plaintiff”) filed a Motion For Temporary Stay of Proceedings (“Motion”). The Court, having reviewed the

Motion, and GOOD CAUSE APPEARING, HEREBY DENIES the

Motion.

A. Procedural Background

On February 22, 2013, Plaintiff filed a First

Amended Complaint (“FAC”). The FAC contains allegations

that prison officials in the prison in which he was housed

(Calipatria State Prison) violated his due process rights

when he was denied a clerical job and was required to take

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a janitorial job instead. On August 20, 2013, the due

process claims were dismissed.

The FAC also contains allegations that prison

officials retaliated against him for filing previous civil

actions against them, and for using the prison written

grievance system. He claims that the retaliation for his

litigation activities is the result of his successful

appeal and dismissal of false disciplinary charges filed

against him.

On August 20, 2013, the Court ordered the Clerk to

issue a summons as to the FAC upon various Defendants,

ordered Plaintiff to complete the Form 285s sent to him

and return them to the United State Marshal, so that the

United States Marshal can serve the FAC and summons on

each Defendant. As of the date of this Order, the record

does not reflect that Plaintiff has returned the Form 285s

to the United States Marshal.

B. Plaintiff’s Motion for Temporary Stay

Plaintiff requests that this case be temporarily

stayed for 60 days because on August 20, 2013, he was

transferred from Calipatria State Prison to Ironwood State

Prison. Thereafter, on August 27, 2013, Plaintiff was

informed by officials at Ironwood State Prison that he may

be transferred to Corcoran State Prison, or another

prison. As of the date of this Order, Plaintiff has not

informed the Court regarding the decision as to where he

will be transferred, or if he will be transferred at all.

Plaintiff states that he was informed that “the transfer

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would take place within days or a couple of weeks.”

(Motion at 2-3).

Plaintiff believes that he has been purposely

“thrown into a tornado of transfers by prison officials to

prevent (him) from timely pursuing” this action. (Motion

at 4).

C. Ruling

When injunctive relief sought goes to the merits of

a plaintiff’s action, or a complete stay of an action,

magistrate judges’ orders under 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A)

are precluded. Reynaga v. Cammisa, 971 F.2d 414, 416 (9th

Cir. 1992).

Motions to stay have not been held to be generically

dispositive. However, where the effect of a ruling on the

motion is denial of Plaintiff’s claims for relief in his

complaint, the motion is considered dispositive. Benyamini

v. Hommer, 2013 WL 268833 at *7 (E.D. Cal. 2013), Elmore

v. Arong, 2010 WL 796983 (E.D. Cal. 2010), Gamez v. Ryan,

2013 WL 1897132 at *4 (D. AZ 2013).

Here, Plaintiff’s Motion does not reach the merits

of his underlying FAC. His FAC alleges retaliation by

prison officials in the form of lost job opportunities for

his grievance and litigation activities. The Motion seeks

a temporary stay of the proceedings until he is permanently housed. Moreover, Plaintiff does not seek a complete stay of the action. Rather, he seeks a limited 60

day stay. Therefore, the Motion is not dispositive and can

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be resolved by an order issued by a magistrate judge.

Benyamini, supra at *7.

At this time, there are no deadlines with which

Plaintiff must comply. Plaintiff has only been directed by

the Court to complete the Form 285s that were sent to him

and return them to the United States Marshal. The record

in this action does not reflect that Plaintiff has returned the completed Form 285s to the United States

Marshal. Once the completed Form 285s are returned to the

United States Marshal, the United States Marshal will

serve the Defendants. In the Court’s experience, after the

Form 285s are returned to the United States Marshal, it

takes some time for the United States Marshal to serve the

Defendants. As a result, unless and until Plaintiff

returns the Form 285s to the United States Marshal, the

United States Marshal serves the Defendants, and the

Defendants respond to Plaintiff’s FAC, the case will not

proceed. In effect, by Plaintiff’s inaction to date, he

has self-imposed a defacto stay of this case.

Further, after the Defendants have been served and

have responded to the FAC, and if Plaintiff needs additional time to file motions or comply with the schedule

the Court will issue in the future, he may seek extensions

of time, as needed. See Benyamini, supra at *8.

Consequently, Plaintiff will have ample time to

proceed with this case after he is permanently housed.

Since this case is in its infancy, the Court does not see

any reason to stay the case at this time. As a result,

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Plaintiff’s Motion To Temporarily Stay The Proceedings is

DENIED. 

DATED: September 9, 2013

 Hon. William V. Gallo

 U.S. Magistrate Judge

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