Justin Bird v. Missouri Department of Social Services, et al.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI EASTERN DIVISION JUSTIN BIRD, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) No. 4:26-cv-38-CMS ) MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL ) SERVICES, et al., ) ) Defendants. ) MEMORANDUM AND ORDER This matter is before the Court upon review of the file. Plaintiff Justin Bird commenced this civil action on January 12, 2026, alleging violations of his civil rights by the Missouri Department of Social Services and Family Support Division. ECF No. 1. On February 17, 2026, the Court directed Plaintiff to show cause as to why this action should not be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. ECF No. 4. The Court cautioned Plaintiff that his failure to timely comply with the Order would result in the dismissal of the case without further notice. Id. To date, Plaintiff has neither responded to the Court’s Order, nor sought additional time to do so. Plaintiff was given meaningful notice of what was expected, he was cautioned that his case would be dismissed if he failed to timely comply, and he was given ample time to comply.

The Court will therefore dismiss this action, without prejudice, due to Plaintiff’s failure to comply with the Court’s January 26, 2026 Order and his failure to prosecute his case. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b); see also Link v. Wabash R.R. Co., 370 U.S. 626, 630-31 (1962) (the authority of a court to dismiss sua sponte for lack of prosecution is inherent power governed “by the control necessarily vested in courts to manage their own affairs so as to achieve the orderly and expeditious disposition of cases”); Brown v. Frey, 806 F.2d 801, 803 (8th Cir. 1986) (a district court has the power to dismiss an action for the plaintiffs failure to comply with any court order).

Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this case is DISMISSED without prejudice.

IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that an appeal from this dismissal would not be taken in good faith.

An Order of Dismissal will accompany this Memorandum and Order.

Dated this 25th day of March, 2026.

J | ; in / 4 wi □ U i CRISTIAN M. STEVENS UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE