Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_15-cv-01615/USCOURTS-cand-3_15-cv-01615-2/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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United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

DJOLIBA NARCISSE,

Petitioner,

v.

ROBERT W. FOX,

Respondent.

Case No. 15-cv-01615-EMC 

ORDER EXTENDING DEADLINE

Docket Nos. 26, 29

Petitioner filed a “motion for reasonable accommodation” pursuant to the Americans With 

Disabilities Act, see 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. (“ADA”). Docket No. 26. In his request, he 

requested that he be allowed access to his prison’s law library all 29 hours per week that the 

library is open for the general population at his prison. His claimed disability consists of a lengthy 

list of large and small medical problems that, among other things, result in him having a mobility 

impairment. Docket No. 26 at 4. 

The ADA does not by its terms apply to the federal judiciary. However, pursuant to 

Judicial Conference policy, federal courts provide reasonable accommodations to persons with 

disabilities. The particular accommodations available in the Northern District are discussed on the 

court’s website at https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/access, and mostly include physical 

accommodations available at particular courthouses. 

As the Court understands the situation from many other filings by inmates, (1) prison 

officials limit the number of hours an inmate may attend the law library because the demand for 

law library access is far greater than can be accommodated without prioritizing the requests; (2) 

prison officials give priority to inmates with upcoming filing deadlines, and (3) staff bring 

requested materials to inmates who sit at tables rather than allowing inmates to roam through open 

Case 3:15-cv-01615-EMC Document 30 Filed 10/24/18 Page 1 of 2
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United States District Court

Northern District of California

stacks in the library. Petitioner seeks substantially more law library time than he apparently 

normally would be allowed as a general population inmate, but does not connect his mobility 

impairment to the request for additional law library access. That is, he does not explain how being 

mobility-impaired requires that he be given more time in the law library. Moreover, to grant the 

requested relief, the Court would have to interfere with the ordinary day-to-day operations of a 

state prison, which federal courts generally are discouraged from doing. See Turner v. Safley, 482 

U.S. 78, 84-85 (1987) (judiciary should exercise restraint on matters of prison administration). 

The request for an order for Petitioner to have unlimited law library access whenever his prison’s 

law library is open to the general population inmates is DENIED. Docket No. 26. Any request 

for additional time at the law library is better directed at prison officials rather than the Court 

because it is prison officials who must make the arrangements, if appropriate, for him to be given 

additional law library time. Petitioner should follow the prison’s procedures for obtaining access 

to the law library and legal research materials. 

Petitioner’s request for an extension of the deadline to file his traverse is GRANTED. 

Docket No. 29. Petitioner must file and serve his traverse no later than December 24, 2018. By 

the time that deadline arrives, Petitioner will have had four months to prepare his traverse.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: October 24, 2018

______________________________________

EDWARD M. CHEN

United States District Judge

Case 3:15-cv-01615-EMC Document 30 Filed 10/24/18 Page 2 of 2