IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO

EASTERN DIVISION

DISABILITY RIGHTS OHIO,

Plaintiff,

v.

THE BUCKEYE RANCH, INC..,

Defendant.

No. 2:18-CV-894

 No. 2:18-CV-904

 Chief Judge Sargus

 Magistrate Judge Vascura

UNITED STATES’ REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL TIME TO CONSIDER WHETHER 

TO INTERVENE OR OTHERWISE PARTICIPATE

On March 15, 2019, the United States of America filed a Notice of Potential Participation 

and Request for Additional Time, informing the Court and parties that it was considering 

whether to seek to intervene or otherwise participate in these actions in order to defend the 

constitutionality of certain federal statutes.1 On May 14, 2019, the United States filed a second 

request for additional time due to developments in the cases that suggested that there may be no 

need for the United States to participate. By Notation Order of May 16, 2019, the Court indicated 

that the United States must notify the Court by July 15, 2019, whether it intends to intervene or 

otherwise participate. 

The United States understands that the parties are currently participating in a mediation 

process in an attempt to resolve these cases without further litigation. However, at this stage, 

 1 The statutes at issue are the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness Act 

(“PAIMI”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 10801 et seq., the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with 

Developmental Disabilities statutes (“PADD”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 15041 et seq., and the Protection 

and Advocacy of Individual Rights statute (“PAIR”), 29 U.S.C. § 794e (collectively, the 

“Statutes”).

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there remains some uncertainty regarding whether The Buckeye Ranch will seek to reassert its 

constitutional challenges. The United States therefore respectfully requests additional time, until 

September 16, 2019, in order to monitor subsequent developments and consider whether to 

intervene or otherwise participate in this action. If the United States decides not to intervene or 

participate before September 16, 2019, it will notify the Court promptly.

Rule 5.1 provides that, “[b]efore the time to intervene expires, the court may reject the 

constitutional challenge, but may not enter a final judgment holding the statute unconstitutional.” 

Fed. R. Civ. P. 5.1(c). Pursuant to this provision, the United States respectfully requests that the 

Court not declare any of the Statutes unconstitutional before the United States decides whether or 

not to intervene in this case. The United States does not object to the Court’s deciding any 

preliminary issues or deciding to uphold the constitutionality of the statutes before September 16, 

2019. See Advisory Committee Notes (2006), Fed. R. Civ. P. 5.1(c) (“Pretrial activities may 

continue without interruption during the intervention period.”). 

Counsel for the United States has communicated with counsel for plaintiff and defendant 

regarding this motion, and neither of the parties oppose the request for additional time.

Dated: July 15, 2019 Respectfully submitted,

JOSEPH H. HUNT

Assistant Attorney General

MICHELLE BENNETT

Assistant Director, Federal Programs Branch

/s/ Kathryn L. Wyer___ 

KATHRYN L. WYER

Federal Programs Branch

U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division

1100 L Street, N.W., Room 12014

Washington, DC 20005

Tel. (202) 616-8475 / Fax (202) 616-8470

kathryn.wyer@usdoj.gov

Attorneys for Defendants

Case: 2:18-cv-00894-EAS-CMV Doc #: 67 Filed: 07/15/19 Page: 2 of 3 PAGEID #: 889
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on July 15, 2019, I electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk 

of the Court using the CM/ECF system which will also send such notification to the parties’ 

counsel of record.

_/s/ Kathryn L. Wyer______________

Kathryn L. Wyer

Case: 2:18-cv-00894-EAS-CMV Doc #: 67 Filed: 07/15/19 Page: 3 of 3 PAGEID #: 890