Opinion
ORDER REGARDING CONSENT TO MAGISTRATE JUDGE JURISDICTION ORDER DIRECTING CLERK OF COURT TO SEND CONSENT FORMS
ANTHONY W. ISHII, Senior District Judge.
Plaintiff Gary Williams is appearing pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
On August 11, 2015, Defendants' motion for summary judgment was granted in part and denied in part, and this case is now ready to be set for jury trial on Plaintiff's claim of excessive force against Defendant Steglinski.
Plaintiff declined Magistrate Judge jurisdiction on June 13, 2012 (ECF No. 4), and Defendant declined Magistrate Judge jurisdiction on April 4, 2014. (ECF No. 29.)
Now that the case is ready to be set for trial, the parties are advised of the following important information about scheduling and trailing cases before the undersigned:
Withholding consent or declining jurisdiction of a Magistrate Judge for all purposes will have no effect on the merits of a party's case or have any adverse substantive consequences.
District Court Judges of the Fresno Division of the Eastern District of California now have the heaviest caseload in the nation. As a result, each District Judge schedules multiple trials to begin on each available trial date. Civil cases will trail and begin as soon as a courtroom is cleared. The law requires that the Court give any criminal trial priority over civil trials or any other matter. A civil trial set to begin while a criminal trial is proceeding will trail the completion of the criminal trial.
The Court cannot give advance notice of which cases will trail or for how long because the Court does not know which cases actually will go to trial or precisely how long each will last. Once your trial date arrives, counsel, parties and witnesses must remain on 24-hour-stand-by until a court opens. Since continuance to a date certain will simply postpone, but not solve, the problem, continuances of any civil trial under these circumstances will no longer be entertained, absent a specific and stated finding of good cause. The Court will use its best efforts to mitigate the effect of the foregoing and to resolve all cases in a timely manner.
One alternative is for the parties to consent to a United States Magistrate Judge conducting all proceedings, including trial and entry of final judgment, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 28 U.S.C. 636(c), Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 73, and Local Rule 305. The Eastern District Magistrate Judges, all experienced former trial lawyers, use the same jury pool and same court facilities as United States District Court Judges. Since Magistrate Judges do not conduct felony trials, they have greater flexibility and schedule firm trial dates. Judgment entered by a United States Magistrate Judge is appealable directly to the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit. (While there are scheduling benefits to consenting to Magistrate Judge jurisdiction, substantive rulings and decisions will not be affected by whether a party chooses to consent or not.)
As another response to its large caseload, the Fresno Division of the Eastern District of California is assigning cases, whenever possible, to Article III District Court Judges from around the nation as Visiting Judges. Pursuant to the Local Rules, Appendix A, such reassignments will be random, and the parties will receive no advance notice before their case is reassigned to an Article III District Court Judge from outside of the Eastern District of California.
Accordingly, it is HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. The Clerk's Office shall send the parties consent/decline forms;
2. Within twenty (20) days from the date of service of this order, the parties may return the consent form to the Court; and
3. After the twenty (20) day deadline, if both parties have not consented to magistrate judge jurisdiction the matter will be set for jury trial before the undersigned.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
ORDER RE CONSENT OR REQUEST FOR REASSIGNMENT
This case was randomly assigned to Magistrate Judge Gerald B. Cohn. Without the written consent of the parties presently appearing pursuant to 28 U.S.C Sec. 636(c), a magistrate judge cannot conduct all proceedings and enter judgment in this case with direct review by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in the event an appeal is filed. If a party declines to consent and the case is assigned to a district judge, the assigned magistrate judge shall continue to perform all duties as required by Eastern District Local Rule 302.
Accordingly, within 30 days, the parties shall complete and return this form to the court.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
IMPORTANT: You must check and sign only one section of this form and return it to the Clerk's Office within 30 days.The complaint/petition will not be reviewed by the court until plaintiff/petitioner has signed and returned this form. Note: This form must be completed and returned regardless of the choice exercised by any other party.
[ ] CONSENT TO JURISDICTION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
The undersigned hereby voluntarily consents to have a United States Magistrate Judge conduct all further proceedings in this case.
[ ] DECLINE OF JURISDICTION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE AND REQUEST FOR REASSIGNMENT TO UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
The undersigned declines to consent to the United States Magistrate Judge assigned to this case and requests random assignment to a United States District Judge.