Eastern District of California Blog

Sad News, John Vincent Passed Away

John Vincent passed away after fighting cancer.  He was the head of the criminal division of the EDCA U.S. Attorney's Office.  He served as the acting U.S. Attorney between 2001-03.  John graduated from the University of Notre Dame as both an undergraduate and law school.  RIP John.

EDCA Court Denies Motion To Transfer Trump's Suit Against California's Sanctuary Laws

Judge Mendez denied defendants' motion to transfer United States v. California to the Northern District of California in this order.

The Court also ordered that defendants' opposition to the motion for preliminary injunction is due May 4, any Amici Briefs in support are due May 18, and plaintiff's reply is due June 8.  A hearing on the motion is set on June 20, 2018, at 10 a.m.

Sacramento Federal Courthouse Closes Due To Stephon Clark Protests

The Sacramento Federal Courthouse closed today at 2 p.m. due to Stephon Clark protest activities.  It is scheduled to reopen Friday.  Heard that Rev. Al Sharpton is scheduled to talk outside the federal courthouse this afternoon.

Update 3/30/18: False alarm.  Rev. Sharpton spoke at funeral but not at protest outside federal courthouse.  View this photo of the protest.

Red States Join Trump In Suit Over California Sanctuary Laws

Judge Mendez granted an extension until April 6 for the filing of any Amici Briefs in support of the United States' motion for a preliminary injunction in U.S. v. California, et. al.  Here is the proposed Amici Brief of Texas and some other "red" states.  See today's LA Times story.

P.S. I find it interesting that only the governors of Mississippi and Maine joined (Phil Bryant and Paul R. LePage, respectively) rather than those states themselves.

United States v. California Case Filings

In United States v. California, No. 2:18-cv-00490-JAM-JAN, the EDCA court website has links to the US Opposition to the Motion to Transfer Venue to the NDCA and Judge Newman's final discovery order, which grants California's request to take up to 4-hour depositions of the ICE and US Customs & Border Patrol directors by April 13, 2018.

ICE Director set to testify in EDCA U.S. v. California sanctuary suit

The nation’s top immigration enforcer is likely to testify in a lawsuit brought by the Trump administration over California’s so-called sanctuary laws seeking to protect people in the country illegally, a federal judge said Wednesday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Kendall Newman said his “strong inclination” is to require four hours of sworn testimony by Thomas Homan, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s acting director. He said a final order is imminent.

Homan must back up claims that the federal government is suffering “irreparable harm” from three California laws that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities by employers and state and local law enforcement agencies, Newman said.

He rejected the argument by U.S. Justice Department attorney Lauren Bingham that such testimony would be too burdensome on a busy agency director.

“You’ve made your point. It doesn’t fly anywhere,” Newman said.

Washington Post, 3/21/18

United States v. California Discovery Hearing Set For March 21, 3 P.M.

After the parties filed this joint letter brief, Magistrate Judge Newman set a hearing on March 21, 3 p.m., in his 8th floor courtroom, to discuss California's request for expedited discovery to respond to the United States' motion for a preliminary injunction to enjoin three California "sanctuary" laws.  

United States v. California: Case Update

The EDCA's website has conveniently listed United States v. California, et. al., No. 2:18-CV-0490-JAM-KJN as a "case of interest," with links to some of the more significant case filings (available here).

On March 12, Judge Mendez issued a minute order setting a schedule on California's motion to transfer, referring discovery issues to the magistrate judge, and holding off setting a schedule on the motion for a preliminary injunction until the Court rules on the motion to transfer and/or motion for expedited discovery.   California's motion to transfer is here.  The United States' response and California's Reply are due March 20 and March 23, respectively.  The Court stated it would then decide the motion on the papers without oral argument.

Magistrate Judge Newman has also ordered the parties to submitted a joint letter brief setting forth the parties respective positions regarding expedited discovery and associated scheduling issues by March 19.

EDCA Court Denies Solano County's Motion to Dismiss Gun Club Suit Challenging Denial of Business License

"The U.S. District Court in Sacramento on Thursday declined to dismiss the Twin Sisters Gun Club action against Solano County, holding that not only does the federal court have jurisdiction on the claims of civil rights violations, but also authority to decide on the underlying local issues."  Daily Republic, 3/16/18

Fresno Judge Orders City To Turn Over Full Dylan Noble Shooting Report

A federal magistrate has ordered the city of Fresno to give lawyers for the family of Dylan Noble, who was shot and killed by police, an unredacted copy of a report about the incident prepared by the city's Office of Independent Review.

Noble's parents, Darren Noble and Veronica Nelson, are suing the city for wrongful death and violation of their son's civil rights.

Lawyers say they need an unredacted report to prepare for trial on June 25, 2019, three years to the day after Noble, 19 and unarmed, had a fatal encounter with police.

Fresno Bee, 3/16/18