Belafon Aradon v. Snohomish County

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON NYLYSHA STARVION BELAFON ARADON, et al., CASE NO. 2:20-CV-1665-RSM-DWC 9 Plaintiffs, ORDER DIRECTING STATUS REPORTS 10 v. SNOHOMISH COUNTY, et al., 12 Defendants.

On August 11, 2021 the Court appointed Jo-Hanna Read to serve as guardian ad litem to minor Plaintiff A.H. Dkt. 45 (“Order”). In seeking the appointment of a guardian ad litem for A.H., Plaintiffs’ counsel, Patrick A. Trudell and Robert Scott Bowen, requested that the Court confirm, authorize, and direct Mr. Trudell and Mr. Bowen to continue to appear as counsel on behalf of A.H. Dkt. 40; see Dkt. 40-1. In the Order, the Court declined to authorize Mr. Trudell and Mr. Bowen to continue as counsel for A.H. and determined the decision regarding who would be retained to pursue the claims on behalf of A.H. was to be made by Ms. Read. Dkt. 45 at 4. At this time, Ms. Read as not indicated who is appearing as counsel on behalf of A.H. The Court also notes Ms. Read has not entered an appearance and the record does not reflect Ms. Read is receiving notice of the docket activity in this case.

1 Further, in the transcript from the March 8, 2022 hearing, Ms. Read stated she was the guardian ad litem for the minor plaintiffs. Dkt. 137 at 4, ln. 4-5. At this time, A.L. has not been appointed a guardian ad litem.

4 Therefore, on or before June 1, 2022, the Court orders: 1. Ms. Read to file a written status report addressing whether she has retained counsel to 6 represent A.H.’s claims in this case and, if so, who she has retained; 2. Ms. Read to file a notice of appearance as the Guardian ad Litem for A.H.; and 3. Counsel for each party to file a status report regarding whether a guardian ad litem should 9 be appointed for A.L.

10 The Clerk is directed to send a copy of this Order by e-mail and United States Postal Service to: 12 Jo-Hanna Read Sixth Avenue, Suite 1250 13 Seattle, Washington 98121 [email protected] 14 [email protected] 15 The Clerk is also directed to update the docket to correctly reflect the parties named in the Complaint by: adding A.H. and A.L. as plaintiffs and removing Snohomish County Superior Court and Snohomish County Volunteer Guardian Ad Litem Program as defendants.1 18 Dated this 18th day of May, 2022.

A David W. Christel United States Magistrate Judge The Court notes Plaintiffs properly named Snohomish County as the Defendant, identifying “Snohomish County through the Snohomish County Superior Court and its VGAL Program” as the defendant. Dkt. 1-1, ¶ 2.5; see Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658, 690 (1978). The Snohomish County Superior Court and the VGAL Program are not proper defendants; rather, the County is the proper defendant and Snohomish County Superior Court and the VGAL Program do not need to be identified as separate defendants on the docket.