Hallett

Plaintiffs, who are a class of prisoners at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (the Prison), brought this action in 1993 to challenge conditions of their confinement. Defendants, who are current and former prison officials, entered into a consent decree with Plaintiffs governing the quality and availability of medical, dental, and mental health services at the Prison. Under the terms of the parties’ agreement, the decree was to expire on January 12, 1999, unless timely extended. In 1998, Plaintiffs moved to extend jurisdiction over the consent decree for an additional period of time. Plaintiffs also moved, twice, to have Defendants held in contempt for past violations of the consent decree and moved to compel discovery. The district court denied all of Plaintiffs’ motions, and it granted a motion brought by Defendants to terminate the consent decree.

We have jurisdiction over this timely appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we hold: (a) The district court properly limited the scope of the evidentiary hearing to the dental and mental health provisions of the consent decree, because Plaintiffs failed to give timely notice of their intent to seek extension of…