(PC) Willard v. Dougherty ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 8 9 JESSE WILLARD, Case No. 1:19-cv-00648-AWI-JDP 10 Plaintiff, ORDER THAT PLAINTIFF FILE A 11 v. CLARIFYING NOTICE OR NOTICE OF VOLUNTARY DISMISSAL WITHIN 12 SUSAN DOUGHERTY, et al., THIRTY DAYS 13 Defendants. ECF No. 20 14 15 16 Plaintiff Jesse Willard is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in this civil rights 17 action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On July 16, 2020, plaintiff filed a notice with the court 18 that states: “I’d like to withdraw my complaint with leave to refile at a later date. Is that 19 possible? If so, how do I go about doing so?” ECF No. 20 at 2-3. 20 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(i) states that a “plaintiff may dismiss an 21 action without a court order by filing . . . a notice of dismissal before the opposing party serves 22 either an answer or a motion for summary judgment.” Rule 41(a)(1)(B) further states that, 23 “[u]nless the notice or stipulation states otherwise, the dismissal is without prejudice.” A 24 dismissal without prejudice gives plaintiff “an opportunity to return and prosecute his claims 25 another day.” Ash v. Cvetkov, 739 F.2d 493, 496-97 (9th Cir. 1984). 26 While the court might construe plaintiff’s notice as a notice of voluntary dismissal, the 27 interests of justice are best served by giving plaintiff an opportunity to clarify his intentions. WAS 2649 UVOYVUU TOC VET RAVUEIOCTI ot PIR feveNYy POY ee 1 | Thus, within thirty days of the date of this order, plaintiff must file a notice clarifying whether 2 | he intends to file a notice of voluntary dismissal under Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(). 3 4 IS SO ORDERED. ° y 23, —N prssann □□□ —_ ated: _ July 23, 2020 6 UNI STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 7 8} No. 205. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28