KENDALL J. NEWMAN, Magistrate Judge.
Plaintiff is a state prisoner, proceeding pro se, with a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment on January 14, 2015. On June 1, 2015, plaintiff filed a document styled, "Declaration of Unavailable Facts Essential to Justify Opposition," which the undersigned construed as a request for additional discovery pursuant to Rule 56(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. On June 23, 2015, defendant filed an opposition to plaintiff's request. Plaintiff has not filed a reply. For the reasons set forth below, the undersigned denies plaintiff's request and grants him one final extension of time in which to oppose the motion for summary judgment.
Rule 56(d) permits a party opposing a motion for summary judgment to request an order deferring the time to respond to the motion and permitting that party to conduct additional discovery upon an adequate factual showing.
"Though the conduct of discovery is generally left to a district court's discretion, summary judgment is disfavored where relevant evidence remains to be discovered, particularly in cases involving confined pro se plaintiffs.
In his Rule 56(d) request, plaintiff states that he seeks interrogatories from each of the witnesses who submitted declarations in support of the pending motion; production of documents consisting of those pages from plaintiff's deposition that were not included in defendant's Exhibit A, interrogatories of Deputy Attorney General Seals, defendant's former attorney, regarding pleadings previously filed with the court, including an explanation of how counsel knew plaintiff's credits were restored, and "other documents in this case." (ECF No. 66 at 4.)
First, there is no statutory requirement for the government to provide a litigant proceeding in forma pauperis with copies of a deposition transcript.
Second, in his Rule 56(d) request, plaintiff does not demonstrate how any additional discovery would provide specific facts that would preclude summary judgment, or how such facts would be essential to oppose the pending motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff did not provide a copy of the proposed interrogatories he would propound to the witnesses. Plaintiff does not identify what facts he hopes to elicit from such interrogatories, or show that those facts would raise an issue of material fact. Thus, plaintiff has not met his burden in seeking relief under Rule 56(d).
Third, plaintiff's request to propound interrogatories or seek documents from defendant's former counsel is inappropriate. Defendant's counsel is not a party to this action, and Rule 33 and Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedures only permits interrogatories and requests for production of documents to be propounded to parties.
Finally, defendant argues that plaintiff failed to diligently seek discovery in this action. (ECF No. 69 at 4.) Plaintiff served one request for production of documents, to which defendant responded, and one untimely request for admissions. (ECF Nos. 69 at 4; 70.) Defendant wrote plaintiff a letter stating no response was required because the request for admissions was propounded after the August 15, 2014 discovery deadline passed. (
For all of the above reasons, plaintiff is not entitled to a continuance for the purpose of conducting additional discovery pursuant to Rule 56(d).
Defendant's dispositive motion has been pending since January 14, 2015. Despite being granted three extensions of time to oppose the motion, plaintiff has failed to do so. (ECF Nos. 61, 63, 65.) By order filed May 7, 2015, plaintiff was warned that failure to file an opposition would result in a recommendation that this action be dismissed. (ECF No. 65.) In light of the pendency of plaintiff's Rule 56(d) request, plaintiff is granted one final extension of time in which to file an opposition. However, because plaintiff will have had over six months in which to prepare his opposition, no further extensions of time will be granted for any reason. If plaintiff fails to timely file an opposition in response to this order, the undersigned will recommend that this action be dismissed pursuant to Rule 41(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. Plaintiff's June 1, 2015 filing (ECF No. 66), construed as a Rule 56(d) request, is denied; and
2. Plaintiff is granted fourteen days from the date of this order in which to file an opposition to the motion for summary judgment. No further extension of time will be granted. Failure to file an opposition will be deemed as consent to have the: (a) action dismissed for lack of prosecution; and (b) action dismissed based on plaintiff's failure to comply with these rules and a court order. Such failure shall result in a recommendation that this action be dismissed pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b).