1

2

3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

4 DISTRICT OF NEVADA

5 QUASHAWN SHERIDAN, Case No. 2:25-cv-00973-GMN-NJK 6 Plaintiff, ORDER 7 v.

8 SERT TEAM, et al.,

9 Defendants.

10 11 Plaintiff Quashawn Sheridan brings this civil-rights action under

12 to redress constitutional violations that he claims he suffered while incarcerated at 13 Washoe County Detention Center. (ECF No. 1-1.) On June 9, 2025, this Court ordered 14 Sheridan to file a fully complete application to proceed in forma pauperis or pay the full 15 $405 filing fee on or before August 8, 2025. (ECF No. 4). The Court warned Sheridan 16 that the action could be dismissed if he failed to file a fully complete application to proceed 17 in forma pauperis with all three documents or pay the full $405 filing fee for a civil action 18 by that deadline. (Id. at 2). That deadline expired, and Sheridan did not file a fully 19 complete application to proceed in forma pauperis, pay the full $405 filing fee, or 20 otherwise respond. 21 I. DISCUSSION 22 District courts have the inherent power to control their dockets and “[i]n the 23 exercise of that power, they may impose sanctions including, where appropriate . . . 24 dismissal” of a case. Thompson v. Hous. Auth. of City of Los Angeles,

, 831 25 (9th Cir. 1986). A court may dismiss an action based on a party’s failure to obey a court 26 order or comply with local rules. See Carey v. King,

(9th Cir. 27 1988) (affirming dismissal for failure to comply with local rule requiring pro se plaintiffs to 1 keep court apprised of address); Malone v. U.S. Postal Service,

(9th 2 Cir. 1987) (dismissal for failure to comply with court order). In determining whether to 3 dismiss an action on one of these grounds, the Court must consider: (1) the public’s 4 interest in expeditious resolution of litigation; (2) the Court’s need to manage its docket; 5 (3) the risk of prejudice to the defendants; (4) the public policy favoring disposition of 6 cases on their merits; and (5) the availability of less drastic alternatives. See In re 7 Phenylpropanolamine Prod. Liab. Litig.,

(9th Cir. 2006) (quoting 8 Malone v. U.S. Postal Serv.,

(9th Cir. 1987)). 9 The first two factors, the public’s interest in expeditiously resolving this litigation 10 and the Court’s interest in managing its docket, weigh in favor of dismissal of Sheridan’s 11 claims. The third factor, risk of prejudice to defendants, also weighs in favor of dismissal 12 because a presumption of injury arises from the occurrence of unreasonable delay in filing 13 a pleading ordered by the court or prosecuting an action. See Anderson v. Air West, 542

, 524 (9th Cir. 1976). The fourth factor—the public policy favoring disposition of 15 cases on their merits—is greatly outweighed by the factors favoring dismissal. 16 The fifth factor requires the Court to consider whether less drastic alternatives can 17 be used to correct the party’s failure that brought about the Court’s need to consider 18 dismissal. See Yourish v. Cal. Amplifier,

, 992 (9th Cir. 1999) (explaining 19 that considering less drastic alternatives before the party has disobeyed a court order 20 does not satisfy this factor); accord Pagtalunan v. Galaza,

, 643 & n.4 (9th 21 Cir. 2002) (explaining that “the persuasive force of” earlier Ninth Circuit cases that 22 “implicitly accepted pursuit of less drastic alternatives prior to disobedience of the court’s 23 order as satisfying this element[,]” i.e., like the “initial granting of leave to amend coupled 24 with the warning of dismissal for failure to comply[,]” have been “eroded” by Yourish). 25 Courts “need not exhaust every sanction short of dismissal before finally dismissing a 26 case, but must explore possible and meaningful alternatives.” Henderson v. Duncan, 779

, 1424 (9th Cir. 1986). Because this action cannot realistically proceed until 1 || and unless Sheridan either files a fully complete application to proceed in forma pauperis 2 || or pays the $405 filing fee for a civil action, the only alternative is to enter a second order 3 || setting another deadline. But the reality of repeating an ignored order is that it often only 4 || delays the inevitable and squanders the Court's finite resources. The circumstances here 5 || do not indicate that this case will be an exception: there is no hint that Sheridan needs 6 || additional time or evidence that he did not receive the Court’s order. Setting another 7 || deadline is not a meaningful alternative given these circumstances. So the fifth factor 8 || favors dismissal. 9 || Ul. CONCLUSION 10 Having thoroughly considered these dismissal factors, the Court finds that they 11 || weigh in favor of dismissal. It is therefore Ordered that this action is dismissed without 12 || prejudice based on Sheridan's failure to file a fully complete application to proceed in 13 || forma pauperis or pay the full $405 filing fee in compliance with this Court’s June 9, 2025, 14 || Order. The Clerk of Court is kindly requested to enter judgment accordingly and close 15 || this case. No other documents may be filed in this now-closed case. If Sheridan wishes 16 || to pursue his claims, he must file a complaint in a new case. 17 18 DATED THIS 10 day of September of Ae Gloriaj}M. Navarro, Judge 20 unre States District Court 21 22 23 24 25 26 27