Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-4_09-cv-05796/USCOURTS-cand-4_09-cv-05796-48/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 555
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Prison Condition
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

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ORDER RE: MENTAL-HEALTH EXAMINATIONS Case No. 4:09 CV 05796 CW

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

EUREKA DIVISION

ASHKER, et al., on their own behalf, and on behalf 

of a class of similarly situated prisoners,

Plaintiffs,

v.

GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, 

et al.,

Defendants.

Case No. 4:09 CV 05796 CW (NJV)

ORDER REGARDING MENTALHEALTH EXAMINATIONS

Case 4:09-cv-05796-CW Document 291 Filed 01/06/14 Page 1 of 3
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ORDER RE: MENTAL-HEALTH EXAMINATIONS 1 Case No. 4:09 CV 05796 CW

After due consideration of the positions articulated by Plaintiffs and by Defendants in their 

letters of December 27, 2013, December 30, 2013, January 2, 2014, and during a telephonic hearing 

on January 3, 2014, the Court finds good cause to grant in part and deny in part the discovery relief 

sought by Plaintiffs, as follows. 

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 

1. Defendants shall facilitate access by Dr. Craig Haney to interview the twenty-five 

(25) Pelican Bay inmates identified by Plaintiffs’ counsel pursuant to the Court’s July 12, 2013 

discovery order by no later than January 31, 2014. As of the date of this Order, Plaintiffs have 

identified nineteen (19) Pelican Bay inmates alleged to have consented to being interviewed by Dr. 

Haney. Once Plaintiffs’ counsel identifies the additional six (6) Pelican Bay inmates that consent to 

being interviewed with Dr. Haney, counsel for the parties will confer regarding the scheduling of 

those additional interviews.

2. By no later than 5 p.m. on January 6, 2014, Pelican Bay staff shall hand-deliver to 

each of the nineteen (19) inmates from whom Plaintiffs’ counsel contend to have previously 

obtained medical releases, CDCR Form No. 7385 entitled “Authorization for Release of 

Information,” so that the inmates, rather than Plaintiffs’ counsel, may complete, date, and execute 

the forms for the release of the medical records that Plaintiffs have sought from such inmates.

3. Defendants’ and Plaintiffs’ mental-health experts may use the C-files and medical 

records of Plaintiffs to make inquiry during Plaintiffs’ mental-health examinations. The experts may 

also inquire as to Plaintiffs’ day-to-day activities, including, but not limited to, activities in which 

Plaintiffs engage that Defendants contend to be in furtherance of Plaintiffs’ current membership or 

association with a prison gang. The experts are restricted, however, from asking whether Plaintiffs 

are currently gang members or associates. 

4. The parties shall exchange copies of any notes taken by their respective mental-health 

experts during the course of interviewing or evaluating the named Plaintiffs, including any written 

record of Dr. Morgan’s examinations of the Plaintiffs that are set to begin on January 6, 2014, by no 

later than January 13, 2014. This includes any notes of or written record taken by Dr. Craig Haney 

and Dr. Terry Kupers in connection with any interview or evaluation of each named Plaintiff. 

Case 4:09-cv-05796-CW Document 291 Filed 01/06/14 Page 2 of 3
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5. Counsel for the parties shall confer and work with the litigation office at Pelican Bay 

to schedule telephone calls so that Plaintiffs’ counsel may speak with their clients in advance of Dr. 

Morgan’s mental-health examinations, scheduled to begin the morning of January 6, 2014. To the 

extent administratively feasible under the circumstances, the telephone calls between Plaintiffs’ 

counsel and the named Plaintiffs should take place by 5 p.m. on January 5, 2014, but in any event 

shall occur prior to the examination by Dr. Morgan of any Plaintiff with whom Plaintiffs’ counsel 

have requested time to prepare by telephone in advance of the examinations.

APPROVED AS TO FORM:

Dated: January 6, 2014

/s/ Carmen Bremer _______________

Carmen Bremer

Counsel for Plaintiffs

Dated: January 6, 2014

/s/ Adriano Hrvatin ______________

Adriano Hrvatin

Counsel for Defendants

DATED: January 6, 2014

_______________________________________

Honorable Nandor J. Vadas

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Case 4:09-cv-05796-CW Document 291 Filed 01/06/14 Page 3 of 3