Kerr v. United States Dist. Court for Northern Dist. of Cal.

Petitioners, defendants in a class action, sought issuance of writs of mandamus from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to compel the District Court to vacate two discovery orders. The Court of Appeals refused to issue the writs. We hold that in the circumstances of this case — and particularly in light of the availability of an alternative, less extreme, path to modification of the challenged discovery orders — issuance of the writ is inappropriate. We therefore affirm.

I

Seven prisoners in the custody of the Department of Corrections of the State of California filed a…