Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_18-cv-02942/USCOURTS-caed-2_18-cv-02942-8/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 

MICHAEL LENIOR SMITH, 

Plaintiff, 

v. 

CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF 

CORRECTIONS AND 

REHABILITATION, et al., 

Defendant. 

No. 2:18-cv-2942 KJM AC P 

ORDER 

 Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding with this civil rights action filed pursuant to 42 

U.S.C. § 1983. By order filed March 8, 2021, this case was referred to the court’s Post-Screening 

ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) Project and stayed for a period of 120 days. ECF No. 32. 

That order provided defendants the opportunity to request opting out of the ADR Project based on 

a good faith belief that a settlement conference would be a waste of resources. Id. at 2. 

Defendants now request to opt out of the Post-Screening ADR Project and that the stay be lifted. 

ECF No. 39. Having reviewed the request, the court finds good cause to grant it. Because a 

settlement conference is not taking place at this time, plaintiff’s counsel Chijioke O. Ikonte, who 

was appointed for the limited purpose of representing plaintiff at the settlement conference, will 

be released as counsel. 

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Case 2:18-cv-02942-KJM-AC Document 40 Filed 04/22/21 Page 1 of 2
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 Good cause appearing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 

1. Defendants’ request to opt out of the Post-Screening ADR Project, ECF No. 39, is 

GRANTED. 

2. The stay of this action, commencing March 8, 2021, ECF No. 32, is LIFTED. 

3. The April 28, 2021 settlement conference before Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman 

is VACATED. 

4. The writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum directing the Warden to produce plaintiff 

for the settlement conference, ECF No. 38, is VACATED. 

5. The Clerk of the Court is directed to serve a copy of this order on the Warden of R.J. 

Donovan Correctional Facility at 480 Alta Road, San Diego, CA 92179, and a courtesy copy on 

the Litigation Coordinator at R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility by fax at (619) 671-7566 or via 

email. 

6. Plaintiff’s limited-purpose counsel, Chijioke O. Ikonte, is hereby released as counsel 

for plaintiff and plaintiff shall proceed pro se. 

7. Within twenty-one days of the filing of this order, defendants shall file a response to 

the complaint. 

DATED: April 22, 2021 

Case 2:18-cv-02942-KJM-AC Document 40 Filed 04/22/21 Page 2 of 2