(PC)Gates v. Navarro ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JOHNNY HOWARD GATES, Case No. 1:23-cv-00271-CDB 12 Plaintiff, ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE IN WRITING WHY ACTION SHOULD 13 v. NOT BE DISMISSED FOR PLAINTIFF’S FAILURE TO OBEY 14 M. NAVARRO, et al., COURT ORDER BY FAILING TO FILE NOTICE REGARDING POST- 15 Defendants. SCREENING ADR 16 (Doc. 14) 17 14-DAY DEADLINE 18 19 Plaintiff Johnny Howard Gates is proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis in this civil 20 rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The action proceeds against Defendant J. Alejo and F. 21 Barrios on Eighth Amendment excessive force claims and against Defendant M. Navarro on an 22 Eighth Amendment failure to protect claim. 23 I. RELEVANT PROCEDURAL HISTORY 24 On August 25, 2023, this Court issued its Order Referring Case to Post-Screening ADR 25 and Staying Case for 90 Days. (Doc. 14.) Relevant here, the parties were directed to file notice 26 indicating whether they wished to participate in an early settlement conference within 45 days. 27 (Id. at 2.) 28 On October 6, 2023, this Court granted Defendants’ request for an extension of time to 1 October 31, 2023, to file their notice concerning early ADR proceedings. (Doc. 17.) 2 More than 45 days have passed, but Plaintiff failed to file any notice indicating whether he 3 wished to participate in early ADR proceedings. 4 II. DISCUSSION 5 The Local Rules,1 corresponding with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, provide, 6 “[f]ailure of counsel or of a party to comply with . . . any order of the Court may be grounds for 7 the imposition by the Court of any and all sanctions . . . within the inherent power of the Court.” 8 Local Rule 110. “District courts have inherent power to control their dockets” and, in exercising 9 that power, may impose sanctions, including dismissal of an action. Thompson v. Housing Auth., 10 City of Los Angeles, 782 F.2d 829, 831 (9th Cir. 1986). A court may dismiss an action based on a 11 party’s failure to prosecute an action, obey a court order, or comply with local rules. See, e.g., 12 Ferdik v. Bonzelet, 963 F.2d 1258, 1260-61 (9th Cir. 1992) (dismissal for failure to comply with a 13 court order to amend a complaint); Malone v. U.S. Postal Service, 833 F.2d 128, 130-31 (9th Cir. 14 1987) (dismissal for failure to comply with a court order); Henderson v. Duncan, 779 F.2d 1421, 15 1424 (9th Cir. 1986) (dismissal for failure to prosecute and to comply with local rules). 16 Here, Plaintiff has failed to obey the Court’s August 25, 2023 order requiring Plaintiff to 17 file notice indicating whether he wished to participate in an early settlement conference. Nor has 18 Plaintiff sought an extension of time within which to do so. 19 III. ORDER 20 Accordingly, the Court ORDERS Plaintiff to show cause in writing, within 14 days of 21 the date of service of this order, why this action should not be dismissed for his failure to comply 22 with the Court’s order of August 25, 2023. Alternatively, within that same time, Plaintiff may file 23 the notice provided with the Court’s August 25, 2023 order, indicating his agreement to 24 25 1 In this Court’s February 26, 2023 order, Plaintiff was advised “the parties must comply with this Order, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“Fed. R. Civ. P.”), and the Local Rules of the United States District 26 Court, Eastern District of California (“Local Rules”) …. Failure to so comply will be grounds for imposition of sanctions which may include dismissal of the case.” (See Doc. 3 at 1 [First Informational 27 Order In Prisoner/Civil Detainee Civil Rights Case].) The same order states “all Court deadlines are strictly enforced. Requests for extensions of time must be filed before the deadline expires and must state 28 good reason for the request.” (Id. at 5.) 1 | participating in an early settlement conference or his belief that settlement is not achievable at this 2 | time. 3 WARNING: Failure to comply with this Order to Show Cause (OSC) will result in a 4 | recommendation that this action be dismissed without prejudice for Plaintiff's failure to 5 | obey court orders and failure to prosecute. 6 | IT IS SOORDERED. | Dated: _ October 16, 2023 | hr 8 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28