U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 2020

Vinton Frost v. Usdoj

Vinton Frost v. Usdoj
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · Decided July 20, 2020

Vinton Frost v. Usdoj

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS JUL 20 2020 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT VINTON P. FROST, No. 19-15579 Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 3:17-cv-01240-JCS v. MEMORANDUM* UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Defendant-Appellee, and MELANIE ANN PUSTAY; et al., Defendants.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California Joseph C. Spero, Magistrate Judge, Presiding Submitted July 14, 2020** Before: CANBY, FRIEDLAND, and R. NELSON, Circuit Judges.

Vinton P. Frost appeals pro se from the district court’s summary judgment in

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). his Freedom of Information Act action arising out of the Department of Justice’s responses to his requests for records. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We review de novo whether the magistrate judge validly entered judgment on behalf of the district court. Williams v. King, 875 F.3d 500, 502 (9th Cir. 2017).

We vacate and remand.

Frost consented to proceed before a magistrate judge. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(c). The magistrate judge then dismissed claims against defendants Pustay and O’Neill before they had been served. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A. Because all parties, including unserved defendants, must consent to proceed before the magistrate judge for jurisdiction to vest, see Williams, 875 F.3d at 503-04, we vacate the magistrate judge’s May 15, 2017 order and remand for further proceedings as to the dismissed claims.

In light of our disposition, we do not consider Frost’s contentions regarding summary judgment.

All pending motions and requests are denied.

The parties shall bear their own costs on appeal.

VACATED and REMANDED.

2 19-15579

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.