Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_90-cv-00520/USCOURTS-caed-2_90-cv-00520-1121/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 TO SHOW CAUSE 

As set by court order, the court held a focused evidentiary hearing on October 23, 

2020, to address class member access to Department of State Hospitals (DSH) inpatient mental 

health programs. The parties filed final exhibit lists on October 30, 2020. ECF Nos. 6931, 6933. 

Defendants filed objections to plaintiffs’ request to admit evidence after the close of witness 

testimony. ECF No. 6932. Plaintiffs filed a response to the objections accompanied by two 

declarations. ECF Nos. 6939, 6943, 6944. Defendants have moved to strike one of the 

declarations. ECF No. 6945. Plaintiffs oppose the motion. ECF No. 6947. In addition, the 

parties have filed closing briefs, ECF Nos. 6948, 6949, and defendants have filed a rebuttal brief. 

ECF No. 6960. In addition, as required by the court, ECF No. 6961, on December 7, 2020, the 

parties filed supplemental briefing focused on whether the court should presume harm to class 

members whose access to necessary inpatient care is delayed beyond the timelines required by the 

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Program Guide and the court-approved exceptions to those timelines. ECF No. 6975 (Plaintiffs’ 

Supplemental Brief); ECF No. 6976 (Defendants’ Supplemental Brief). Plaintiffs have moved to 

strike evidence filed by defendants with their supplemental brief, ECF No. 6982; defendants 

oppose the motion, ECF No. 6997. In addition, also as required by the court, ECF No. 7029, on 

January 28, 2021 defendants filed an update on the status of admissions to DSH programs. ECF 

No. 7041. The matter is submitted before the court. 

 In its order filed May 7, 2020, the court identified three issues for consideration at 

the evidentiary hearing: 

(1) as required by the April 24, 2020 order, have DSH and CDCR 

been complying with the Program Guide requirements, as modified 

by the temporary addition of COVID-19 screening, for transfer of 

class members to inpatient hospital beds; (2) if they are not 

complying with those requirements, in what way or ways are they 

deviating from those requirements; and (3) what is the rationale for 

any deviation. 

May 7, 2020 Order, ECF No. 6660, at 3. During the week of March 8, 2021, the Special Master 

informed the court (1) there is currently no wait list for class member access to DSH inpatient 

beds; (2) DSH is following appropriate quarantine and isolation policies as required by the 

COVID-19 pandemic, which allows facilitation of class member transfer to DSH inpatient 

programs; (3) DSH and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) 

have recently resumed working collaboratively with the Special Master to review all class 

members referrals to inpatient hospital beds; and (4) that collaboration is appropriately informed 

by public health considerations and has, since its resumption at least, resulted in compliance with 

the requirements of the April 24, 2020 order. Then in the most recent joint update on the work of 

the COVID-19 Task Force, filed March 19, 2021, defendants report that 19 Coleman class 

members have been admitted to DSH hospitals since February 19, 2021, that DSH had received 

six new Coleman referrals since February 19, 2021, and that as of March 16, 2021, four patients 

are waiting to be admitted to DSH state hospitals, none of whom have been waiting more than 

thirty days, and two of whom are “housed at institutions CDCR has closed to movement” because 

of COVID-19. ECF No. 7094 at 5. The joint update also includes a representation that CDCR 

has identified 45 inmate-patients housed in intermediate care facilities (ICFs) in CDCR 

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psychiatric inpatient programs (PIPs)who are potentially eligible for transfer to DSH, that eleven 

of those patients have been reviewed, five are “clinically appropriate for referral to DSH” and that 

the review of the remaining thirty-four is ongoing. Id. at 7. 

 The Special Master’s report to the court suggests that the issues addressed at the 

evidentiary hearing may be moot, as the court raised with the parties at the videoconference status 

on March 25, 2021. At this stage, given the significant progress in management of the COVID19 pandemic generally and the apparent impact of this progress on inpatient transfers to DSH of 

class members specifically, the court is of the tentative view that no useful purpose would be 

served by retrospective findings on the issues raised at hearing given that the remediation that 

might be ordered based on those findings has been mooted by recent events. The court 

nonetheless would plan to resolve the four outstanding evidentiary disputes presented by the posthearing briefing in order to complete the record. The court understands plaintiffs disagree with 

the court’s tentative conclusion. Accordingly, good cause appearing, the parties will be granted 

until April 9, 2021 to show cause in writing, if any they have, why the court should not find moot 

the matters raised at evidentiary hearing. To the extent defendants wish to present their position 

that the matter is indeed moot, they may do so as well, by the April 9, 2021 date. 

 In accordance with the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that on or before April 

9, 2021, the parties shall show cause in writing, if any they have, why the court should not find 

moot the matters raised at the October 23, 2020 evidentiary hearing. Defendants may present 

their position that the matter is indeed moot by April 9, 2021 as well. 

DATED: March 26, 2021. 

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