Free Notice (Other) - District Court of California - California

Case 3:07-cv-03455-WHA

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CECILLIA D. WANG (CSB #187782) LUCAS GUTTENTAG (CSB #90208) AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION IMMIGRANTS' RIGHTS PROJECT 39 Drumm Street San Francisco, CA 94111 Telephone: (415) 343-0775 Facsimile: (415) 395-0950 Email: [email protected] Attorneys for Plaintiffs-Petitioners *Additional counsel listed on following page

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION ALIA AHMADI, MIAO LING HUANG, YAN WANG, FU ZHONG, Plaintiffs-Petitioners, Case No. 07-CV-3455-WHA v. MICHAEL CHERTOFF, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security; ROBERT S. MUELLER III, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; ALBERTO GONZALES, Attorney General of the United States; EMILIO T. GONZALEZ, Director, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services; DAVID STILL, District Director, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, San Francisco District, Defendants-Respondents. AMENDED NOTICE OF RELATED CASE

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AMENDED NOTICE OF RELATED CASE CASE NO. 07-CV-3455-WHA

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Additional counsel: JULIA HARUMI MASS (CSB #189649) ALAN L. SCHLOSSER (CSB #49957) AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA 39 Drumm Street San Francisco, CA 94111 Telephone: (415) 621-2493 Facsimile: (415) 255-8437 SIN YEN LING* JOREN LYONS (CSB #203403) ASIAN LAW CAUCUS 939 Market Street, Suite 201 San Francisco, CA 94103 Telephone: (415) 896-1701 Facsimile: (415) 896-1702 *Application for admission pro hac vice forthcoming

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AMENDED NOTICE OF RELATED CASE CASE NO. 07-CV-3455-WHA

Of counsel: TODD GALLINGER (CSB #238666) COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS (CAIR) ­ SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA 3000 Scott Boulevard, Suite 212 Santa Clara, CA 95054 Telephone: (408) 986-9874 Facsimile: (408) 986-9875

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Pursuant to Local Rule 3-12(a)(1), Plaintiffs hereby give notice that the instant matter might be construed as related to Zhang v. Still, et al., No. 07-CV-503-SBA, which is pending before the Honorable Saundra Brown Armstrong. Under Local Rule 3-12(a), "[a]n action is related to another when: (1) [t]he actions concern substantially the same parties, property, transaction or event; and (2) [i]t appears likely that there will be an unduly burdensome duplication of labor and expense or conflicting results if the cases are conducted before different Judges" (emphasis added). Plaintiffs do not believe that the cases are related, but provide this notice in an excess of caution. The instant matter is a proposed class action challenging policies, practices and procedures of the defendant government officials that have caused systemic and unreasonable delays in the processing of naturalization applications. The four named plaintiffs previously were among the eight original plaintiffs in the Zhang matter, No. 07-CV-503-SBA. Zhang was originally filed by lead plaintiff Yinan Zhang as an individual petition for naturalization pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1447(b). The seven other plaintiffs in Zhang, including the four named plaintiffs here, joined the action and amended the original complaint in Zhang to add causes of action challenging the policies, practices and procedures of the defendant government officials, and also adding allegations in support of class certification. On June 12, 2007, seven of the plaintiffs in Zhang, including the four named plaintiffs in the instant action, filed a notice of voluntary dismissal of their claims in Zhang pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1), due to a conflict that arose between the seven plaintiffs and Mr. Zhang. As set forth in the Notice of Voluntary Dismissal, Mr. Zhang wished to continue the action as an individual plaintiff in No. 07-CV-503-SBA, seeking naturalization by the Court pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1447(b). In contrast, Plaintiffs in the instant matter wished to proceed as class representatives challenging systemic policies, practices and procedures of the Defendants. The instant matter and Zhang do not squarely meet the first requirement for relation of cases under Local Rule 3-12(a)(1), that the cases involve "substantially the same parties, property, transaction or event." The four named plaintiffs in the instant case ­ Alia Ahmadi, Miao Ling Huang, Yan Wang and Fu Zhong ­ were among the eight named plaintiffs in Zhang 3
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until they voluntarily dismissed their claims in that matter pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1) by notice filed June 12, 2007. However, since filing the instant complaint, undersigned counsel have learned that the government intends to naturalize plaintiffs Huang and Zhong. Plaintiffs therefore intend to file an amended complaint withdrawing the claims of plaintiffs Huang and Zhong and adding new named plaintiffs. After the impending amendment of the complaint, the instant matter will include only two plaintiffs who were among the eight original plaintiffs in the Zhang matter, No. 07-CV-503-SBA. At that point, the two actions will not concern "substantially the same parties." Similary, the transactions and events at issue in Zhang, i.e. those related to Mr. Zhang's application for naturalization, will not be at issue in the instant matter. The instant case and Zhang also do not meet the second requirement for relation of cases under Local Rule 3-12(a)(2) because the instant matter raises several factual and legal issues ­ including class certification and causes of action under the Administrative Procedures Act and the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment challenging policies, practices and procedures of the Defendants ­ that are not at issue in Zhang. Thus, conducting the instant case and Zhang before different judges will not entail a likelihood of "an unduly burdensome duplication of labor and expense or conflicting results." Plaintiffs in the instant matter have filed an Administrative Notice to Consider Whether Cases Should Be Related before the Honorable Saundra Brown Armstrong in the Zhang matter.

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Dated: July 12, 2007

Respectfully submitted, CECILLIA D. WANG LUCAS GUTTENTAG AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION IMMIGRANTS' RIGHTS PROJECT 39 Drumm Street San Francisco, CA 94111 JULIA HARUMI MASS ALAN L. SCHLOSSER AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA 39 Drumm Street San Francisco, CA 94111 SIN YEN LING JOREN LYONS ASIAN LAW CAUCUS 939 Market Street, Suite 201 San Francisco, CA 94103 Telephone: (415) 896-1701 Facsimile: (415) 896-1702 TODD GALLINGER Of Counsel COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS (CAIR) ­ SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA 3000 Scott Boulevard, Suite 212 Santa Clara, CA 95054 Telephone: (408) 986-9874 Facsimile: (408) 986-9875 By: _______/s/________________________ CECILLIA D. WANG Attorneys for Plaintiffs-Petitioners

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PROOF OF SERVICE BY U.S. MAIL I, Derrick I. Wortes, hereby declare under penalty of perjury as follows: 1. I am employed in the office of a member of the bar of this Court at whose direction the following service was made. I am over the age of eighteen years and am not a party to the within action. 2. On July 12, 2007, I served one true copy of the foregoing Amended Notice of

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Related Case on the defendants via certified U.S. mail at the following addresses: Michael Chertoff Secretary of Homeland Security U.S. Department of Homeland Security Washington, D.C. 20528 Robert S. Mueller III, Director Federal Bureau of Investigation J. Edgar Hoover Building 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20535-0001 Alberto Gonzales Attorney General of the United States U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530-0001 Emilio T. Gonzalez, Director U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 20 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20529 David Still District Director U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 630 Sansome Street San Francisco, CA 94111 Civil Process Clerk United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California 450 Golden Gate Avenue, 11th Floor San Francisco, CA 94102

3. On July 12, 2007, I served one true copy of the foregoing Amended Notice of Related Case on Elizabeth Stevens, Esq. of the United States Department of Justice, Office of Immigration Litigation via regular U.S. mail at the following address: Elizabeth Stevens, Esq. United States Department of Justice Office of Immigration Litigation 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the above is true and correct. Dated: July 12, 2007 San Francisco, California /s/____________________________ Derrick I. Wortes

AMENDED NOTICE OF RELATED CASE CASE NO. 07-CV-3455-WHA