Opinion
MEMORANDUM DECISION
ROBERT S. BARDWIL, Bankruptcy Judge.
On August 13, 2008, Jesse Adrian Wagner, the plaintiff in this adversary proceeding, filed an application for an order directing the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Sierra Conservation Center, and Warden Ivan C. Clay, to make the plaintiff available to appear by telephone at a status conference in this adversary proceeding on September 3, 2008, at 10:30 a.m. ("the Application"). The plaintiff also states in the Application that "good cause exists to allow debtor [the plaintiff] to appear by telephone."
In his declaration attached to the Application, the plaintiff testifies to his present incarceration, to the financial burden of transporting him to court for the hearing, and to his prior appearances by telephone at an earlier status conference in this adversary proceeding and at the meeting of creditors in his parent bankruptcy case.
The court notes, first, that the status conference in this adversary proceeding is now scheduled for October 9, 2008, at 11:00 a.m., not for September 3, 2008. (A Notice of Rescheduled Status Conference was served by the Clerk's Office on August 11, 2008, and in all likelihood, had not been received by the plaintiff at the time he filed the Application.)
However, there is another hearing presently scheduled for September 3, 2008, at 10:30 a.m. - the motion of Educational Credit Management Corporation to be substituted in as a party in this adversary proceeding ("the Motion" or "the Motion to Substitute"). The plaintiff has filed opposition to the Motion, and it appears he intends to make an appearance at the hearing on the Motion. Thus, the court will construe the Application as a request to appear by telephone at the hearing on the Motion.
The court has issued policies and procedures pursuant to which attorneys and parties are permitted to appear by telephone at most non-evidentiary hearings. These policies and procedures are available from the Clerk's Office and may also be found on the court's website, www.caeb.uscourts.gov, under Court Calendars - Procedural Information. For the convenience of the plaintiff, who the court understands may have no access to the Internet, a copy of the policies and procedures is attached hereto as Exhibit A. Pursuant to these policies and procedures, the plaintiff may appear by telephone at the hearing on the Motion to Substitute. No order is necessary.
The plaintiff's request for an order directing the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Sierra Conservation Center, and Warden Ivan C. Clay "to make Debtor available by telephone for the hearing" will be denied. The court finds no basis for jurisdiction over the Department, the Center, or the Warden that would allow the court to make such an order.
Instead, the plaintiff may provide the appropriate prison officials with copies of this decision and the attached information and procedures re telephone appearances, so as to facilitate his appearance. The plaintiff will need to take the steps necessary to appear by telephone at the hearing.