Allison v. Stein Forensics Unit & Staff ( 2021 )

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 3 4 Ronald J. Allison, Case No. 2:21-cv-01787-JAD-EJY 5 Plaintiff v. 6 Order Dismissing Stein Forensics Unit & Staff, et. al., and Closing Case 7 Defendants 8 9 Plaintiff Ronald J. Allison brings this civil-rights lawsuit to redress constitutional 10 violations that he claims he suffered while detained at Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health 11 Services. On October 1, 2021, this court ordered the plaintiff to either pay the $402 filing fee or 12 file a complete application to proceed in forma pauperis by November 30, 2021.1 That deadline 13 expired, and plaintiff did not pay the fee, file an in forma pauperis application, or seek to extend 14 the deadline to do so. 15 District courts have the inherent power to control their dockets and “[i]n the exercise of 16 that power, they may impose sanctions including, where appropriate . . . dismissal” of a case.2 A 17 court may dismiss an action based on a party’s failure to obey a court order or comply with local 18 rules.3 In determining whether to dismiss an action on these grounds, the court must consider: 19 (1) the public’s interest in expeditious resolution of litigation; (2) the court’s need to manage its 20 21 1 ECF No. 3. 22 2 Thompson v. Hous. Auth. of City of Los Angeles, 782 F.2d 829, 831 (9th Cir. 1986). 3 Malone v. U.S. Postal Service, 833 F.2d 128, 130 (9th Cir. 1987) (dismissal for failure to 23 comply with court order); Henderson v. Duncan, 779 F.2d 1421, 1424 (9th Cir. 1986) (dismissal for lack of prosecution and failure to comply with local rules). 1 docket; (3) the risk of prejudice to the defendants; (4) the public policy favoring disposition of 2 cases on their merits; and (5) the availability of less drastic alternatives.4 3 The first two factors, the public’s interest in expeditiously resolving this litigation and the 4 court’s interest in managing its docket, weigh in favor of dismissal of the plaintiff’s claims. The 5 third factor, risk of prejudice to defendants, also weighs in favor of dismissal because a 6 presumption of injury arises from the occurrence of unreasonable delay in prosecuting an 7 action.5 The fourth factor—the public policy favoring disposition of cases on their merits—is 8 greatly outweighed by the factors favoring dismissal. 9 The fifth factor requires the court to consider whether less drastic alternatives can be used 10 to correct the party’s failure that brought about the court’s need to consider dismissal.6 Courts 11 “need not exhaust every sanction short of dismissal before finally dismissing a case, but must 12 explore possible and meaningful alternatives.”7 Because this court cannot operate without 13 collecting reasonable fees, and litigation cannot progress with a plaintiff’s compliance with court 14 order, the only alternative is to enter a second order setting another deadline. But issuing a 15 second order will only delay the inevitable and further squander the court’s finite resources. 16 17 18 4 In re Phenylpropanolamine Prod. Liab. Litig., 460 F.3d 1217, 1226 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Malone v. U.S. Postal Serv., 833 F.2d 128, 130 (9th Cir. 1987)). 19 5 See Anderson v. Air West, 542 F.2d 522, 524 (9th Cir. 1976). 20 6 Yourish v. Cal. Amplifier, 191 F.3d 983, 992 (9th Cir. 1999) (explaining that considering less drastic alternatives before the party has disobeyed a court order does not satisfy this factor); 21 accord Pagtalunan v. Galaza, 291 F.3d 639, 643 & n.4 (9th Cir. 2002) (explaining that “the persuasive force of” earlier Ninth Circuit cases that “implicitly accepted pursuit of last drastic 22 alternatives prior to disobedience of the court’s order as satisfying this element[,]” i.e., like the “initial granting of leave to amend coupled with the warning of dismissal for failure to 23 comply[,]” have been “eroded” by Yourish). 7 Henderson, 779 F.2d at 1424. 1} Setting another deadline is not a meaningful alternative given these circumstances. So the fifth 2|| factor favors dismissal. 3 Having thoroughly considered these dismissal factors, I find that they weigh in favor of dismissal. IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that THIS ACTION IS DISMISSED without prejudice based on the plaintiff's failure to pay the filing fee or seek to proceed in forma pauperis 6] in compliance with the court’s order. The Clerk of Court is directed to ENTER JUDGMENT 7|| accordingly and CLOSE THIS CASE. Ronald J. Allison wishes to pursue his claims, he 8]| must file a complaint in a new case, and he must pay the fee for that action or file a complete application to proceed in forma pauperis. 10 Dated: December 15, 2021 oP) EG U.S. DistrictJudgle Jenni sa) Dorsey 1] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23