Kerr v. United States District Court for the Northern District of California

California prisoners (plaintiffs) sued the state penal system (defendant) in federal court, alleging constitutional violations, and sought discovery of Adult Authority personnel records and a sample of prisoner files. The district court granted the motions to compel, subject to confidentiality safeguards limiting who could review the files and requiring individual prisoner consent, and California sought a writ of mandamus from the Ninth Circuit to halt production, which was denied.