Angela Ballanger v. Missouri State Hospital, et al.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI EASTERN DIVISION ANGELA BALLANGER, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) No. 4:25-cv-01381-SRW ) MISSOURI STATE HOSPITAL, et al., ) ) Defendants. ) MEMORANDUM AND ORDER This matter is before the Court upon review of the file. On February 11, 2026, after striking additional plaintiffs from this matter, the Court ordered remaining plaintiff Angela Ballanger to file a second amended complaint and either pay the filing fee or submit a motion to proceed in forma pauperis. ECF No. 7. The Court cautioned Plaintiff that her failure to timely comply with the Order would result in the dismissal of her case without further notice. Id. at 8. Plaintiff’s response was due by March 13, 2026.

To date, Plaintiff has neither responded to the Court’s Order nor sought additional time to do so. Local Rule 2.01 authorizes the Clerk of Court to refuse to receive any pleadings “until the applicable statutory fee is paid, except in cases accompanied by a completed application to proceed in forma pauperis.” E.D. Mo. L.R. 2.01(B)(1). Plaintiff has not paid the filing fee or submitted a motion to proceed without prepayment. Plaintiff was given meaningful notice of what was expected, she was cautioned that her case would be dismissed if she failed to timely comply, and she 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 February 11, 2026 Order and her failure to prosecute her case. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b); see also Link v. Wabash R.R. Co., 370 U.S. 626, 630-31 (1962) (stating 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) (stating 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. A separate order of dismissal will be entered herewith.

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

Dated this 31° day of March, 2026.

CRISTIANM.STEVENS UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE