MICHAEL J. SENG, Magistrate Judge.
Plaintiff is a state prisoner proceeding pro se in this civil rights action filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The action proceeds on an equal protection claim against Defendant Doran.
Before the Court is Plaintiff's motion to compel further responses to his first set of interrogatories. He claims the responses received from Defendant were not verified and are not full and complete.
The discovery process is subject to the overriding limitation of good faith.
Generally, if the responding party objects to a discovery request, the party moving to compel bears the burden of demonstrating why the objections are not justified. E.g.,
Courts in the Eastern District of California have required, "at a minimum, [that] the moving party plaintiff has the burden of informing the court (1) which discovery requests are the subject of his motion to compel, (2) which of the defendant's responses are disputed, (3) why he believes the defendant's responses are deficient, (4) why the defendant's objections are not justified, and (5) why the information he seeks through discovery is relevant to the prosecution of this action."
The court must limit discovery if the burden of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(2)(C)(iii). "In each instance [of discovery], the determination whether . . . information is discoverable because it is relevant to the claims or defenses depends on the circumstances of the pending action." Fed. R. Civ. P. 26 Advisory Committee's note (2000 Amendment) (Gap Report) (Subdivision (b)(1)).
A party may propound interrogatories relating to any matter that may be inquired into under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b). An interrogatory is not objectionable merely because it asks for an opinion or contention that relates to fact or the application of law to fact. Fed. R. Civ. P. 33(a).
The responding party is obligated to respond to the interrogatories to the fullest extent possible. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 33(b)(3). Any objections must be stated with specificity. Fed. R. Civ. P. 33(b)(4). The responding party shall use common sense and reason in its responses; hyper-technical, quibbling, or evasive objections will not be viewed favorably by the court.
All grounds for objection to an interrogatory must be stated "with specificity." Fed. R. Civ. P. 33(b)(4); see
Procedural deficiencies in Plaintiff's motion leave the Court unable to grant it. Plaintiff does not identify which interrogatories, responses and objections are in issue and why. He does not include Defendant's responses or objections. In short, there is insufficient information to enable the Court to evaluate whether or not he is entitled to any relief. Accordingly, his motion must be denied.
The motion will be denied without prejudice to Plaintiff refiling it in a manner that complies with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Local Rules.
Accordingly, for the reasons stated, it is HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff's motion to compel further responses to his set one interrogatories (ECF No. 51) is DENIED without prejudice.