Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_90-cv-00520/USCOURTS-caed-2_90-cv-00520-1058/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., 

Plaintiffs, 

v. 

GAVIN NEWSOM, et al., 

Defendants. 

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

ORDER 

The court is in the process of reviewing the stipulation filed by the parties on May 

20, 2020, ECF No. 6679, filed in response to the court’s April 17, 2020 directive requiring 

identification of “temporary departures” from certain Program Guide requirements implemented 

by defendants in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. See ECF No. 6622 at 2-3. It is settled 

that the Program Guide “‘is grounded in the requirements of the Eighth Amendment’” Coleman v. 

Brown, 938 F.Supp.2d 955, 973 (E.D. Cal. 2013) (internal citation omitted); see also Coleman v. 

Brown, 756 Fed. App’x 677, 679 (9th Cir. 2018) (law of the case that “the Program Guide sets 

out the objective standards that the Constitution requires in this context, . . . .”). The court’s 

review of the May 20, 2020 stipulation raises in its mind a serious question about the extent to 

which, if at all, the court can or should approve any measure that falls below Eighth Amendment 

requirements as those are memorialized in the Program Guide and whether there is any temporary 

Case 2:90-cv-00520-KJM-SCR Document 6700 Filed 06/02/20 Page 1 of 2
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period of time for such measures to remain in place that survives scrutiny under applicable legal 

standards. Good cause appearing, the parties are invited to file briefing focused on answers to 

these questions. The parties also shall provide clarification of how specifically “hiring authority” 

is defined as used in the attachments to the stipulation. See ECF No. 6679 at 9, 32. Any brief 

filed in response to this order shall be limited to ten pages. 

In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the parties are 

granted fourteen days in which to file and serve the briefs invited by this order. 

DATED: June 2, 2020. 

Case 2:90-cv-00520-KJM-SCR Document 6700 Filed 06/02/20 Page 2 of 2