Court Opinion

ID: 9363890
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-01-17 21:00:35.503299+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:15:34.675618
License: Public Domain

NOT FOR PUBLICATION                            FILED
                    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS                         JAN 13 2023
                                                                       MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
                                                                        U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
                           FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

JANE ROE, by and through her Guardian Ad No. 22-55180
Litem, Latoya Walker, an individual,
                                         D.C. No.
               Plaintiff-Appellant,      5:19-cv-00863-JGB-SP

 v.
                                                MEMORANDUM*
RIALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, a
local public entity; et al.,

                Defendants-Appellees.

                   Appeal from the United States District Court
                       for the Central District of California
                    Jesus G. Bernal, District Judge, Presiding

                           Submitted January 11, 2023**
                              Pasadena, California

Before: WATFORD, FRIEDLAND, and BENNETT, Circuit Judges.

      Jane Roe appeals from the district court’s order dismissing her Rule 50(b)

and Rule 59 motions as untimely. We reverse and remand.

      Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(a) dictates that if a filing deadline falls on

      *
             This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
      **
             The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the period for filing “continues to run until

the end of the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.” Fed. R.

Civ. P. 6(a)(1)(C). Rule 6(a)(6), in turn, defines a legal holiday as, among other

things, any “day declared a holiday by the state where the district court is located.”

Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a)(6)(C).1 California Code of Civil Procedure § 135 recognizes

the day after Thanksgiving as a judicial holiday. Relying on that provision of state

law, we held in Dwyer v. Duffy, 426 F.3d 1041, 1044 (9th Cir. 2005), that the day

after Thanksgiving is a legal holiday under Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure

9006(a), which, like Rule 6(a)(6)(C), provides that any “day declared a holiday by

the state where the district court is located” is a legal holiday. We later extended

that interpretation to the nearly identical definition of legal holiday contained in

Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 26(a). Yepremyan v. Holder, 614 F.3d 1042,

1044 (9th Cir. 2010). We see no reason why the analysis should differ in

interpreting Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(a).

      Because Roe’s filing deadline originally fell on Thanksgiving, November

25, the period for filing continued to run until the following Monday, November

29. Roe timely filed her motions on that date.

      REVERSED and REMANDED.

1
  This definition applies to “periods that are measured after an event.” Fed. R. Civ.
P. 6(a)(6)(C). It applies here because Rule 50(b) and Rule 59 motions must be
filed within 28 days of the entry of judgment. Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(b), 59(b).
                                           2