Opinion ID: 776026
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Defective Certification

Text: 50 While the class certification is generally proper, it is defective in two respects. First, in addition to the prisoners and parolees with sight, hearing, learning, developmental and mobility disabilities, the district court designated individuals with kidney disabilities as members of the class. As amended, however, the class no longer includes a named plaintiff with a kidney disability. We are unable to determine from the district court's decision or the parties briefs (which do not mention the subject) what injuries, if any, prisoners or parolees with renal disorders suffer as a result of the defendants' failure to comply with the law. Accordingly, should the plaintiffs wish to maintain a claim on behalf of prisoners and parolees with kidney disabilities, they would have to amend the complaint to include one or more individuals with such disabilities among the named plaintiffs, and set forth the facts showing how they are injured. 51 Second, in addition to life prisoner hearings, parole revocation hearings, and parole revocation extension hearings, the plaintiffs challenge the Board's procedures relating to the hearing process for Sexually Violent Predators and Mentally Disordered Offenders. 26 None of the named plaintiffs, however, is a sexually violent predator or a mentally disordered offender. Those two categories of putative class members may be sufficiently distinct from the other class members that separate class representatives are necessary in order to ensure that their interests are fairly and adequately protected. See Hanon, 976 F.2d at 508. At least, on the record presented, we cannot say they are sufficiently similar. On remand, plaintiffs may choose to add additional named plaintiffs to represent the claims of sexually violent predators and mentally disordered offenders, or to otherwise refashion this action to remedy class defects. Hawkins, 251 F.3d at 1238.