Allison v. U.S. Mail
Allison v. U.S. Mail
Trial Court Opinion
1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA
3 RONALD J. ALLISON, Case No. 2:21-cv-01665-APG-EJY
4 Plaintiff ORDER
5 v.
U.S. MAIL, et al., 6 Defendants 7 8 9 This action began with a pro se civil rights complaint filed under
42 U.S.C. § 1983by a 10 state prisoner. On September 20, 2021, Magistrate Judge Youchah ordered plaintiff Ronald J. 11 Allison to file a fully complete application to proceed in forma pauperis or pay the full filing fee 12 of $402 by November 9, 2021. ECF No. 3 at 2. That deadline has expired and Allison has not 13 filed a fully complete application to proceed in forma pauperis, paid the full $402 filing fee, or 14 otherwise responded to the order. 15 District courts have the inherent power to control their dockets and “[i]n the exercise of 16 that power, they may impose sanctions including, where appropriate . . . dismissal” of a case. 17 Thompson v. Hous. Auth. of City of Los Angeles,
782 F.2d 829, 831(9th Cir. 1986). A court may 18 dismiss an action, with prejudice, based on a party’s failure to prosecute an action, failure to 19 obey a court order, or failure to comply with local rules. See Ghazali v. Moran,
46 F.3d 52, 53- 20 54 (9th Cir. 1995) (affirming dismissal for noncompliance with local rule); Ferdik v. Bonzelet, 21
963 F.2d 1258, 1260-61(9th Cir. 1992) (affirming dismissal for failure to comply with an order 22 requiring amendment of complaint); Carey v. King,
856 F.2d 1439, 1440-41(9th Cir. 1988) 23 (affirming dismissal for failure to comply with local rule requiring pro se plaintiffs to keep court apprised of address); Malone v. U.S. Postal Service,
833 F.2d 128, 130(9th Cir. 1987) (affirming 1 dismissal for failure to comply with court order); Henderson v. Duncan,
779 F.2d 1421, 1424 2 (9th Cir. 1986) (affirming dismissal for lack of prosecution and failure to comply with local 3 rules). 4 In determining whether to dismiss an action for such reasons, the court must consider
5 several factors: (1) the public’s interest in expeditious resolution of litigation; (2) the court’s 6 need to manage its docket; (3) the risk of prejudice to the defendants; (4) the public policy 7 favoring disposition of cases on their merits; and (5) the availability of less drastic alternatives. 8 See Thompson,
782 F.2d at 831; Henderson,
779 F.2d at 1423-24; Malone,
833 F.2d at 130; 9 Ferdik,
963 F.2d at 1260-61; Ghazali,
46 F.3d at 53. 10 Here, the first two factors (the public’s interest in expeditiously resolving this litigation 11 and my interest in managing the docket) weigh in favor of dismissal. The third factor (risk of 12 prejudice to the defendants) also weighs in favor of dismissal because a presumption of injury 13 arises from the occurrence of unreasonable delay in filing a pleading ordered by the court or 14 prosecuting an action. See Anderson v. Air West,
542 F.2d 522, 524(9th Cir. 1976). The fourth
15 factor (public policy favoring disposition of cases on their merits) is greatly outweighed by the 16 factors in favor of dismissal discussed herein. Finally, a court’s warning to a party that his 17 failure to obey the court’s order will result in dismissal satisfies the “consideration of 18 alternatives” requirement. Ferdik,
963 F.2d at 1262; Malone,
833 F.2d at 132-33; Henderson, 19
779 F.2d at 1424. Judge Youchah’s order expressly stated: “IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, 20 if Plaintiff does not file a fully complete application to proceed in forma pauperis with all three 21 documents or pay the full $402 filing fee for a civil action on or before November 9, 2021, this 22 case will be subject to dismissal without prejudice for Plaintiff to refile the case with the Court, 23 under a new case number, when Plaintiff has all three documents needed to file a complete 1} application to proceed in forma pauperis or pays the the full $402 filing fee.” Thus, Allison had adequate warning that dismissal would result from his noncompliance with the order. 3 I THEREFORE ORDER that this action is dismissed without prejudice based on plaintiff Ronald J. Allison's failure to file a fully complete application to proceed in forma pauperis or 5|| pay the full $402 filing fee in compliance with this court’s September 20, 2021 order. 6 I FURTHER ORDER the Clerk of Court to close the case and enter judgment accordingly. No other documents may be filed in this now-closed case. 8 DATED: November 21, 2021. 9 CIA 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 1] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Reference
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