Anderson v. California Department of Correction

Background

Robert D. Anderson filed a civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and represented himself. He moved to compel discovery, asking the court to require Defendants to provide requested information or materials.

Reason for the ruling

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37 requires a motion to compel discovery to include a certification that the person bringing the motion made a good-faith effort to confer, or tried to confer, with the opposing party before seeking court action. Northern District of California Local Rule 37-1(a) also requires the parties to confer about all disputed discovery issues before the court will consider a discovery dispute.

The court found that Anderson’s motion lacked the required certification showing that he had conferred in good faith with Defendants. The court also noted that people representing themselves must comply with the same litigation procedures as other parties.

Disposition

The court denied Anderson’s motion to compel without prejudice to refiling. The order allowed him to file the motion again if he first made good-faith meet-and-confer efforts and could not resolve the dispute. The order terminated docket entry 25.