Jensen et al v. Thornell et al

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WO
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA
Shawn Jensen, et al.,
Plaintiffs,
v.
Ryan Thornell, et al.,
Defendants.
No. CV-12-00601-PHX-ROS
ORDER
Before the Court is Defendants’ Motion to Modify Injunction to Permit Quarterly
Compliance Monitoring and Reporting (Doc. 5297). The Motion is fully briefed. (Doc.
5329, 5337). For the reasons below, the Motion will be denied without prejudice.
I. Legal Standard
Under Rule 60(b)(5), “the court may relieve a party . . . from a final judgment,
order, or proceeding” if “applying it prospectively is no longer equitable.” An order may
be modified if it “proves to be unworkable because of unforeseen obstacles,” Rufo v.
Inmates of Suffolk Cnty. Jail, 502 U.S. 367, 384 (1992), or when “a better appreciation of
the facts in light of experience indicates that the decree is not properly adapted to
accomplishing its purposes.” King-Seeley Thermos Co. v. Aladdin Indus., Inc., 418 F.2d
31, 35 (1969).
II. Discussion
The 2023 Permanent Injunction provides:
Defendants shall monitor all elements of this order on a
monthly basis. Monitoring shall be completed and available for
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inspection by the monitors by the last day of the month
following the monitored month. Defendants shall maintain
adequate supporting evidence for their monitoring results.
(Doc. 4410 at 7). Defendants seek to modify this requirement to permit quarterly, rather
than monthly, compliance monitoring and reporting. Defendants argue three years of
experience have shown the monthly monitoring and reporting cycle leaves little time for
remediation and acting on the data collected to improve compliance. The purpose of data
collection and reporting is to build compliance with the other substantive requirements of
the Permanent Injunction, thereby facilitating the provision of constitutionally adequate
healthcare.
The Monitors opine the modification is appropriate because one purpose of monthly
reporting was to offer rapid feedback while Defendants made rapid progress in compliance,
but that rapid compliance has not occurred, making the rapid monitoring schedule
counterproductive. Monitors’ Report at 1. The Monitors further opine Defendants’ inability
to reliably meet the monthly reporting requirements supports the modification because “it
would be much more valuable for both Defendants as well as the Court, to receive less
frequent reports that are timely, than monthly reports that are so late as to not fully serve
their purpose of improving compliance.” Monitors’ Report at 2. Finally, the Monitors opine
that based on their experience, a quarterly reporting schedule would not impact the
transparency of data or insight into compliance. Id.
The Court’s primary concern is that Defendants are not now and have not been in
compliance with the current monitoring and reporting requirements. The Court has not
been presented with sufficient information to conclude that Defendants would reliably
produce timely, accurate reports under a modified schedule. Without further information
on how Defendants intend to improve their process and Defendants’ certification and
explanation of how they would successfully improve the quality and accuracy of reporting
under a quarterly schedule, the Court cannot justify meeting noncompliance with
modification.
Accordingly,
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IT IS ORDERED the Motion to Modify Injunction to Permit Quarterly Compliance
Monitoring and Reporting is DENIED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED the Clerk of Court is instructed to file the attached
Monitors’ Report under a separate docket number.
Dated this 2nd day of October, 2026.
Honorable Roslyn O. Silver
Senior United States District Judge
Case 2:12-cv-00601-ROS Document 5375 Filed 10/02/26 Page 3 of 3