UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE NASHVILLE DIVISION

LINDA WILLIAMS SHELTON, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) No. 3:19-cv-01121 ) TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF ) AGRICULTURE, et al., ) ) Defendants. )

ORDER On June 2, 2020, the Magistrate Judge issued a Report and Recommendation (“R&R”) (Doc. No. 6) recommending that this case be dismissed pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m). Plaintiff Linda Williams Shelton, proceeding pro se, has not filed any timely objections to the R&R, despite the R&R’s specific warnings regarding waiver. (See Doc. No. 6 at 4.) The Court has thoroughly reviewed the R&R and agrees with the Magistrate Judge’s analysis. “This action has been pending for more than 160 days without service of process on any defendant,” (id. at 3), and Shelton was warned multiple times about her responsibility to effect service under Rule 4 (see Doc. Nos. 4, 5). Although the Court acknowledges that Plaintiff is proceeding pro se, that does not excuse her from complying with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See McNeil v. United States,

(1993) (noting that the Supreme Court has “never suggested that procedural rules in ordinary civil litigation should be interpreted so as to excuse mistakes by those who proceed without counsel”). Accordingly, the Magistrate Judge’s R&R (Doc. No. 6) is APPROVED AND ADOPTED, and this action is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. This is a final order. The Clerk shall enter judgment in accordance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 58 and close the case. IT IS SO ORDERED.

WAVERLY CRENSHAW, JR. CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE