Jacobson v. Schwarzenegger
| Decision Date | 25 August 2009 |
| Docket Number | Case No. CV 04-3629-JFW (JTL). |
| Parties | Eric JACOBSON, Plaintiff, v. Arnold SCHWARZENEGGER, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Central District of California |
Eric C. Jacobson, Eric C. Jacobson Law Offices, Culver City, CA, pro se.
Paul C. Epstein, Office of Attorney General of California, Los Angeles, CA, for Defendants.
ORDER ADOPTING FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 636, the Court has reviewed the Third Amended Complaint, all the records and files herein, and the Amended Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge. The Court concurs with and adopts the findings, conclusions and recommendations of the Magistrate Judge.
IT IS ORDERED that: (1) defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 56 is granted; (2) plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 56 is denied; and (3) judgment shall be entered dismissing this action with prejudice as to Claim Twelve and without prejudice as to Claims Thirteen and Eighteen.
The Court submits this Amended Report and Recommendation to the Honorable John F. Walter, United States District Judge, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 636 and General Order 05-07 of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
On May 21, 2004, plaintiff Eric Jacobson ("plaintiff" or "Jacobson"), a licensed California attorney, filed a civil rights complaint pursuant to Title 42, United States Code, Section 1983 ("Complaint"). The Complaint asserted claims on Jacobson's own behalf and also purported to represent the interests of a "caste" of California parolees under the doctrine of third party standing. The Complaint named as defendants: (1) California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; (2) former California Governor Gray Davis; (3) former California Youth and Adult Correctional Agency Secretary Roderick Hickman; (4) former California Youth and Adult Correctional Agency Secretary Robert Presley; (5) California Board of Prison Terms (the "Board")1 chairperson Margarita E. Perez; (6) former Board chairperson Carol Daly; (7) Board Associate Chief Deputy Commissioner Thomas Wadkins; (8) Board Chief Counsel Terry R. Farmer; (9) Board Executive Director Marvin E. Speed, II; (10) Board Chief Deputy Commissioner Ken Cater; (11) Board officials Sandra Maciel, Tracy Master, and Marc D. Remis; (12) Board counsel Dan Moeller; (13) former California Department of Corrections ("CDC") Director Jeanne S. Woodford; (14) former CDC Director Edward S. Alameida; and (15) parole agent Brigitte Murria.
On August 6, 2004, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), a motion for a more definite statement pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(e), and a motion to strike pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(f). On November 30, 2004, United States Magistrate Judge James W. McMahon dismissed the Complaint with leave to amend. See Jacobson v. Schwarzenegger, 357 F.Supp.2d 1198, 1205 (C.D.Cal.2004).
On January 31, 2005, Jacobson filed a First Amended Complaint, adding a second plaintiff, Eric Johnson ("Johnson"), whom Jacobson represented in his capacity as attorney. The First Amended Complaint contained class action allegations wherein Johnson purported to represent a class of "all felons currently serving determinate sentences and all felons who have completed determinate sentences and been released to parole terms but have not yet been discharged from parole." (See First Amended Complaint ¶¶ 128-38).
On February 15, 2005, Magistrate Judge McMahon sua sponte dismissed the First Amended Complaint, with leave to amend, on the ground that it violated the mandate of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a) that a complaint must contain a "short and plain" statement of the claim for relief. See Jacobson v. Schwarzenegger, 226 F.R.D. 395, 397-98 (C.D.Cal.2005). On March 11, 2005, Jacobson and Johnson filed a Second Amended Complaint.
On August 31, 2005, Jacobson and Johnson filed a Third Amended Complaint. The Third Amended Complaint contained two sets of claims. Claims One through Eleven challenged various aspects of California's parole revocation system and were asserted by Johnson as class claims and by Jacobson under the doctrine of third party standing. Claims Twelve through Eighteen were asserted by Jacobson alone and consisted of a federal retaliatory termination claim and six pendent state law claims.
On September 30, 2005, defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss the Third Amended Complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) ("Motion to Dismiss"). While the Motion to Dismiss was pending, Magistrate Judge McMahon retired and the case was reassigned to this Court. On January 16, 2007, the Court issued a Report and Recommendation ("January 16, 2007 Report and Recommendation") recommending that the Motion to Dismiss be granted in part and denied in part, and that the claims asserted by both Johnson and Jacobson be dismissed as to Jacobson and severed from the claims asserted by Jacobson alone. On August 1, 2007, the district court adopted the recommendations of the January 16, 2007 Report and Recommendation and dismissed, without leave to amend, the following claims: (1) Claims One through Eleven as asserted by Jacobson only; (2) Claims Two, Three, Six, Seven, Ten, and Fourteen through Seventeen; (3) Claim Twelve as against all defendants except Farmer, Speed, Wadkins, Cater, and Murria; and (4) Claims Thirteen and Eighteen as against all defendants except defendants Farmer, Speed, Wadkins, and Cater. (Order Adopting Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations, filed August 1, 2007).
On September 6, 2007, United States District Judge John F. Walter severed the remaining claims asserted by Johnson (Claims One, Four, Eight, Nine and Eleven) from the remaining claims asserted by Jacobson (Claims Twelve, Thirteen and Eighteen), and ordered that they be assigned a new case number.2 This action then proceeded with Jacobson as the pro se plaintiff, defendants Farmer, Speed, Wadkins, Cater, and Murria ("defendants") as the remaining defendants, and Claims Twelve, Thirteen, and Eighteen as the remaining claims.3
On December 10, 2007, defendants filed an Answer to the Third Amended Complaint. On August 29, 2008, defendants filed a Motion for Summary Judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 ("Defendants' Motion" or "Def. Motion"). Defendants' Motion was accompanied by declarations and other evidentiary material, a Separate Statement of Undisputed Material Facts, a proposed Statement of Uncontroverted Facts and Conclusions of Law ("Def. St. Uncontroverted Facts"), and a proposed Judgment.
Plaintiff also filed a Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on August 29, 2008, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 ("Plaintiff's Motion" or "Pl. Motion"). Plaintiff's Motion was accompanied by his declaration (Declaration of Eric C. Jacobson, dated August 29, 2008 ["Jacobson Decl."]) and other evidentiary materials, and a Separate Statement of Uncontroverted Facts ("Pl. St. Uncontroverted Facts"). On September 16, 2008 defendants filed an Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion ("Defendants' Opposition" or "Def. Opp."), accompanied by a Statement of Genuine Issues.
On September 17, 2008, plaintiff filed an Opposition to Defendants' Motion ("Plaintiff's Opposition"), accompanied by evidentiary materials. On September 23, 2008, plaintiff filed a Reply to Defendants' Motion ("Plaintiff's Reply"). Defendants also filed a Reply to Plaintiff's Motion ("Def. Reply") and objections to plaintiff's declaration ("Def. Obj. to Jacobson Decl.") and to plaintiff's exhibits ("Def. Obj. to Pl. Exh.") on September 23, 2008.
On September 30, 2008, plaintiff submitted another declaration in support of his motion and in opposition to Defendants' Motion ("Plaintiff's September 30, 2008 Declaration"). On October 2, 2008, defendants filed an ex parte application to strike plaintiff's filings as untimely and violative of Local Rules 11-6 and 11-8.
On October 24, 2008, the Court issued a minute order striking Plaintiff's Opposition, Plaintiff's Reply, and Plaintiff's September 30, 2008 Declaration. The Court granted plaintiff until October 31, 2008 to refile these documents, and granted defendants additional time to file a reply.
On November 3, 2008, plaintiff filed a revised Opposition to Defendants' Motion ("Pl. Rev. Opp.") and a revised declaration in opposition to Defendants' Motion and in support of Plaintiff's Motion (Revised Declaration by Plaintiff Eric C. Jacobson, dated November 3, 2008 ["Jacobson Rev. Decl."]). On November 4, 2008, plaintiff filed a revised Reply to Defendants' Opposition ("Pl. Rev. Reply"). Plaintiff subsequently filed additional evidentiary materials and, on November 24, 2008, filed a memorandum regarding his exhibits ("Plaintiff's Memorandum re Exhibits").
On November 19, 2008, defendants filed a Reply to Plaintiff's Revised Opposition ("Def. Rev. Reply"). On December 2, 2008, defendants filed separate objections to: (1) plaintiff's revised declaration ("Def. Obj. to Jacobson Rev. Decl."); (2) plaintiff's audio-recordings of deposition excerpts ("Def. Obj. to Audio."); (3) plaintiff's Memorandum re Exhibits ("Def. Obj. to Memo."); and (4) the Declaration of Larry Starn ("Def. Obj. to Starn Decl.").
On March 13, 2009, the Court issued a Report and Recommendation ("March 13, 2009 Report and Recommendation") recommending that: (1) plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment be denied; (2) defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment be granted; and (3) the action be dismissed...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Oyarzo v. Tuolumne Fire Dist. (
...her regular salary during the deposition and was subpoenaed to testify on matters related to her employment); Jacobson v. Schwarzenegger, 650 F.Supp.2d 1032, 1059 (C.D.Cal.2009) (speech by attorney under contract with state to represent parolees at revocation hearings was not speaking as a ......
-
Law Office of Samuel P. Newton v. Weber Cnty.
...deemed protected by the First Amendment even though the speech fell within the scope of his or her professional duties." 650 F. Supp. 2d 1032, 1055 (C.D. Cal. 2009). But the court in Jacobson failed even to recognize, let alone grapple with, the essential point that speech made on behalf of......
-
Harris v. Harris
...Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, and other provisions of the Federal Constitution"). 21. See also Jacobson v. Schwarzenegger, 650 F. Supp. 2d 1032, 1050-51 (C.D. Cal. 2009) (holding that, on summary judgment, the plaintiff has the burden of showing that: (1) "the speech addressed an iss......
-
Kinney v. Anglin
...decided prior to Garcetti, no court has found that the holding in Umbehr is affected by Garcetti. See, e.g., Jacobson v. Schwarzenegger, 650 F.Supp.2d 1032, 1054 (C.D.Cal.2009). Second, this court must determine whether or not Plaintiff spoke in her capacity as a private citizen or as an em......