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Motion To Stay

The federal defendants filed a motion to stay proceedings or hold pending dispositive motions in abeyance in a case challenging rules expanding religious and moral exemptions to contraceptive coverage. They request this until April 30, 2021 to allow new agency leadership to evaluate the issues. Plaintiffs oppose a stay before an upcoming status conference. The defendants argue a stay would conserve court and party resources while the agencies review the case under new leadership.

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317 views

Motion To Stay

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Basseem

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Case 2:17-cv-04540-WB Document 269 Filed 03/05/21 Page 1 of 4

THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

COMMONWEALTH OF )
PENNSYLVANIA, )
)
Plaintiff, )
v. ) Civil Action No. 2:17-cv-04540 (WB)
)
JOSEPH R. BIDEN, in his official )
capacity as President of the United States, )
et al.,1 )
)
)
Defendants. )
____________________________________)

MOTION FOR A STAY OF PROCEEDINGS OR, IN THE ALTERNATIVE, AN ORDER

HOLDING THE PENDING DISPOSITIVE MOTIONS IN ABEYANCE

Federal Defendants hereby move for a stay of proceedings or, in the alternative, an order

holding the pending dispositive motions in abeyance, until April 30, 2021, to allow new leadership

at Federal Defendant agencies and the U.S. Department of Justice to evaluate the issues presented

by this case.

1. This case involves a challenge to final rules the defendant agencies issued in 2018

expanding the prior religious exemption to the contraceptive coverage requirement and

creating a new moral exemption. See Religious Exemptions and Accommodations for

Coverage of Certain Preventive Services Under the ACA, 83 Fed. Reg. 57,536 (Nov.

15, 2018); Moral Exemptions and Accommodations for Coverage of Certain

Preventive Services Under the ACA, 83 Fed. Reg. 57,592 (Nov. 15, 2018).

2. This Court entered a preliminary injunction; the judgment was reversed and remanded

by the Third Circuit on August 21, 2020, following the Supreme Court’s decision in

Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter & Paul Home v. Pennsylvania, 140 S. Ct. 2367

(2020).

1
President Biden, Acting Secretary of Health and Human Services Norris Cochran, Acting
Secretary of Labor Al Stewart, and Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen have been substituted as
defendants, in their official capacities, by operation of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 25(d).
1
Case 2:17-cv-04540-WB Document 269 Filed 03/05/21 Page 2 of 4

3. The Court has before it fully briefed dispositive motions. See, e.g., ECF Nos. 252, 254,

255.

4. The Court has the inherent power to stay this case to save “time and effort for itself, for

counsel, and for litigants.” Landis v. N. Am. Co., 299 U.S. 248, 254 (1936). Relatedly,

the Court has the power to hold motions in abeyance. See, e.g., Bracey v. Lancaster

Foods LLC, 2019 WL 1129436, at *6 (D. Md. Mar. 12, 2019), appeal dismissed, 2020

WL 7385192 (4th Cir. Dec. 16, 2020).

5. New leadership at the federal defendant agencies—the U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the U.S. Department of the

Treasury—and the U.S. Department of Justice is currently in the process of arriving

and needs additional time to evaluate the issues that this case presents. It would

therefore conserve the resources of the Court and the parties to stay the case or, in the

alternative, hold the pending dispositive motions in abeyance, until April 30, 2021,

while the agencies undertake this evaluation.

6. Federal Defendants propose to file a status report with the Court on or before April 30,

2021.

7. On March 2, 2021, in a similar case in the Northern District of California, State of

California v. Cochran, 17-cv-5783 (N.D. Cal.), the Court decided to hold pending

dispositive motions in abeyance until April 30, 2021. The Court also instructed Federal

Defendants to file a status report on or before April 30, 2021.

8. Plaintiffs’ counsel represents that Plaintiffs oppose any motion for a stay, or to hold the

pending dispositive motions in abeyance, that is filed before the status conference

scheduled for March 11, 2021. Counsel for the intervenor, The Little Sisters of the

Poor, states that their client opposes this motion.

9. Therefore, the Government hereby moves for a stay of proceedings in this case or an

order holding the pending dispositive motions in abeyance, until April 30, 2021, to

permit new leadership to evaluate the issues presented by this case.

2
Case 2:17-cv-04540-WB Document 269 Filed 03/05/21 Page 3 of 4

DATED: March 5, 2021 Respectfully submitted,

BRIAN BOYNTON
Acting Assistant Attorney General

JENNIFER D. RICKETTS
Director, Federal Programs Branch

MICHELLE R. BENNETT
Assistant Director, Federal Programs Branch

/s/ Justin M. Sandberg

JUSTIN M. SANDBERG (Il. Bar No. 6278377)
Senior Trial Counsel
MICHAEL GERARDI
CHRISTOPHER R. HEALY
REBECCA M. KOPPLIN
DANIEL RIESS
Trial Attorneys
U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Civil Div., Federal Programs Branch
1100 L Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20001
(202) 514-5838
[email protected]