Mandamus action: federal judge denies government's ex parte motion

In a recent ruling, federal district court judge Saundra Armstrong in Oakland, California, denied government's ex parte motion to continue a motion for summary judgment hearing set for October 16, 2007. Judge Armstrong previously in one of our mandamus cases granted our motion for summary judgment and ordered the CIS to adjudicate the I-485 before October 15, 2007(Dong v. Chertoff C-07-00266, SBA, Federal District. Court, Northern District of California).

The following is the order of the judge:


UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
OAKLAND DIVISION
STEPHEN CHANG AND HONGYAN CHEN,
Plaintiffs,
v.
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, et al.,
Defendants.
No. C 07-3562 SBA
ORDER
[Docket No. 14]
Before the Court is the defendants’ ex parte application to reschedule the hearing on the parties’
motions set for October 16, 2007 [Docket No. 13]. The plaintiffs oppose the motion.
The defendants state that the "current schedule does not allow Defendants time to reply to
Plaintiffs’ opposition to their cross motion for summary judgment." Docket No. 13. The defendants
offer no explanation for this claim. On September 10, 2007, both the plaintiffs and defendants filed
motions, noticing them for hearing on October 16, 2007, in compliance with the local rules that motions
be noticed thirty-five days or more before the hearing. Since that time, both parties have filed their
oppositions. The plaintiffs have filed a reply. The defendants offer no reason why they are unable to
similarly file a timely reply. Having shown no reason why the hearing should be rescheduled, the
defendants’ ex parte application is DENIED.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
October 5, 2007 _________________________________
Saundra Brown Armstrong
United States District Judge
Case 4:07-cv-03562-SBA Document 16 Filed 10/09/2007 Page 1 of 1