The court resolved a discovery dispute by ordering the government defendants to provide the plaintiffs with the information they requested, pursuant to the stipulation between the parties regarding defendants’ performance in taking care of the health of incarcerated persons in their custody (see Dkt. No. 1185). Although the stipulation did not explicitly include COVID-19 within its scope, the court emphasized the stipulation’s raison d’etre—which was to provide for prisoners’ health care through diagnostic testing and treatment. As such, it held that the COVID-19 pandemic was not outside the stipulation and defendants’ obligations. Lastly, the court, citing the Ninth Circuit, found that it was reasonable to require submission of real-time reports because the stipulation allowed the Court to remedy deficiencies via all remedies provided by law. Defendants were therefore required to report, on a weekly basis, the names and identification numbers of prisoners who were tested for COVID-19.
Parsons v. Shinn, No. 2:12-cv-00601, 2020 WL 1640532 (D. Ariz. Apr. 2, 2020)
DETAILS
Decision
Date
4/2/2020
Practice Area
Criminal (State Charges)
Relief Requested
Discovery, Release
Type of Court
Federal District Court
Location
Arizona
Type of Case
Group
Case Characteristics
Pretrial Detention [jail], Significant Criminal History
This is the first case I encountered in which the Court relied heavily on the parties' Stipulation. It would be interesting to research how parties typically draft Stipulations and how the Stipulations affect the lawsuits.
Litigation Database
Crowdsourced legal documents from around the country related to COVID-19 and incarceration, organized, collected, and summarized for public defenders, litigators, and other advocates. Created and managed by Bronx Defenders, Columbia Law School’s Center for Institutional and Social Change, UCLA Law COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project, and Zealous. Mostly federal court opinions, but now expanding to states and legal filings, declarations, and exhibits.
This resource is designed to help lawyers, advocates, researchers, journalists, and others interested in challenging, remedying, or drawing attention to the grave risk that Covid-19 poses to individuals who are detained.