Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_16-cv-00423/USCOURTS-cand-3_16-cv-00423-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 540
Nature of Suit: Prisoner Petitions - Mandamus and Other
Cause of Action: 28:1651 Petition for Writ of Mandamus

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United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

LONNIE MORRIS,

Plaintiff,

v.

JENNIFER SHAFFER, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No. 16-cv-00423-JSC 

ORDER ADMINISTRATIVELY 

CLOSING CASE; 

INSTRUCTIONS TO CLERK

(Dkt. No. 2)

This case was opened when Plaintiff, a California prisoner, filed a pro se Petition for a 

Writ of Mandamus with the caption for Coleman, et al., v. Brown, et al., No. 90-cv-0520 KKK 

DAD (PC) (E.D. Cal.), and Plata , et al., v. Brown, et al., No. 01-cv-1351 TEH (N.D. Cal.) 

(hereinafter “Coleman/Plata”), class actions before a three-judge panel.

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 Plaintiff alleges that he 

is a member of the class in Coleman/Plata, and that he is eligible for release pursuant to a 

February 10, 2014 Order which created “Elderly Parole release criteria.” (See Dkt. No. 1, Exh. B.) 

The petition seeks to compel the Executive Officer of the California Board of Parole Hearings and 

the Warden of San Quentin State Prison to comply with the February 10, 2014 Order by releasing 

Plaintiff from custody. 

Plaintiff may not assert his claims in an individual suit, but rather he must pursue them in 

Coleman/Plata by urging further action through the class representatives and attorneys. See Pride 

v. Correa, 719 F.3d 1130, 1133 (9th Cir. 2013) (holding that individual suits for injunctive and 

equitable relief may be dismissed when they duplicate an existing class action's allegations and 

prayer for relief); see also McNeil v. Guthrie, 945 F.2d 1163, 1165 (10th Cir. 1991) ("Individual 

suits for injunctive and equitable relief from alleged unconstitutional prison conditions cannot be 

 

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Plaintiff has consented to the jurisdiction of a Magistrate Judge. (Dkt. No. 4). 

Case 3:16-cv-00423-JSC Document 5 Filed 02/29/16 Page 1 of 3
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United States District Court

Northern District of California

brought where there is an existing class action" suit involving the same subject matter); Gillespie 

v. Crawford, 858 F.2d 1101, 1103 (5th Cir. 1988) (en banc) ("Individual members of the class and 

other prisoners may assert any equitable or declaratory claims they have, but they must do so by 

urging further actions through the class representative and attorney, including contempt 

proceedings, or by intervention in the class action."). It is clear from the caption to the petition 

that Plaintiff intended to file it in Coleman/Plata, and not as an individual suit. This was the 

correct course of action, although pursuant to an order in Plata, he may not file a pro se petition 

directly in that case but rather only through plaintiffs’ counsel.2 (See Dkt. No. 2348 in Plata, et 

al., v. Brown, et al., No. C 01-1351 TEH (N.D.Cal.)) Accordingly, the Clerk shall 

administratively close this case as having been opened in error, and return a copy of the Petition 

for Writ of Mandamus (Dkt. No. 1) to Plaintiff. No fee is due, and the application to proceed in 

forma pauperis (Dkt. No. 2) is DENIED as moot. 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: February 29, 2016

JACQUELINE SCOTT CORLEY

United States Magistrate Judge

 

2

Plaintiff may submit his petition to plaintiffs’ counsel in Plata by mailing it to Donald H. 

Specter, Prison Law Office, 1917 Fifth Street, Berkeley, CA 94710-1916. 

Case 3:16-cv-00423-JSC Document 5 Filed 02/29/16 Page 2 of 3
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United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

LONNIE MORRIS,

Plaintiff,

v.

JENNIFER SHAFFER, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No. 16-cv-00423-JSC 

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I, the undersigned, hereby certify that I am an employee in the Office of the Clerk, U.S. 

District Court, Northern District of California.

That on February 29, 2016, I SERVED a true and correct copy(ies) of the attached, by 

placing said copy(ies) in a postage paid envelope addressed to the person(s) hereinafter listed, by 

depositing said envelope in the U.S. Mail, or by placing said copy(ies) into an inter-office delivery 

receptacle located in the Clerk's office.

Lonnie Morris ID: B-95677

California State Prison - San Quentin

San Quentin, CA 94964 

Dated: February 29, 2016

Susan Y. Soong

Clerk, United States District Court

By:________________________

Ada Means, Deputy Clerk to the 

Honorable JACQUELINE SCOTT CORLEY

Case 3:16-cv-00423-JSC Document 5 Filed 02/29/16 Page 3 of 3