Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_07-cv-02263/USCOURTS-caed-2_07-cv-02263-7/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 530
Nature of Suit: Prisoner Petitions - Habeas Corpus
Cause of Action: 28:2254 Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (State)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

ANTHONY GRENIER,

Plaintiff, No. CIV S-08-2263 GGH P

 vs.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, 

Governor, et al., 

Defendants. ORDER

 /

Plaintiff is state prisoner housed at Avenal State Prison who has filed a document

entitled “petition for writ of mandate and declaratory relief ....” Plaintiff seeks enforcement of a

2002 “stipulation for injunctive relief” issued in Plata v. Davis, a class action now proceeding as

Plata v. Schwarzenegger, N.D. Cal, No. C01-1351 THE. Plaintiff claims to be a member of the

Plata class, a state prisoner with serious medical needs, and that prison officials at Avenal State

Prison are not in compliance with the Plata injunction, demonstrating deliberate indifference to

his serious medical needs. 

A plaintiff who is a member of a class action for equitable relief from prison

conditions may not maintain a separate, individual suit for equitable relief within the same

subject matter of the class action. Gillespie v. Crawford, 858 F.2d 1101, 1103 (5 Cir. 1988) (en th

Case 2:07-cv-02263-MDS Document 30 Filed 10/03/08 Page 1 of 2
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 The Gillespie Court found that individual class members could pursue equitable relief 1

claims “by urging further action through the class representative and attorney, including

contempt proceedings, or by intervention in the class action.” Id.

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banc) (adopting a rule “similar to that of the Sixth and Eighth Circuits,” precluding individual

lawsuits for equitable relief by class action members, averring that such actions “would interfere

with the orderly administration of the class action and risk inconsistent adjudications”) ; see also, 1

McNeil v. Guthrie, 945 F.2d 1163, 1165-1166 (10 Cir. 1991) (precluding individual lawsuits for th

injunctive relief alleging unconstitutional prison conditions when there is an existing class

action); Crawford v. Bell, 599 F.2d 890, 892-93 (9th Cir. 1979); Choyce v. Saylor, 2007 WL

3035406 *1 (N.D. Cal. 2007)(“[i]ndividual suits for injunctive and equitable relief from alleged

unconstitutional prison conditions cannot be brought where there is a pending class action suit

involving the same subject matter”); Jacobson v. Schwarzenegger, 357 F. Supp.2d 1198, 1209

(C.D. Cal. 2004); Rouser v. White, No. CIV S-93-0767 LKK GGH P, 2006 WL 1897125, at *2

(E.D. Cal. 2006). The undersigned will direct that this matter be transferred to Judge Thelton

Henderson in the Northern District before whom the Plata class action proceeds. 

Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court is directed to transfer

this case to Judge Thelton Henderson in the Northern District of California. 

DATED: 10/03/08 /s/ Gregory G. Hollows

 

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

GGH:009

gren2263.ord

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