( 2024 )

2 3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 4 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 5 In re TYRONE NOEL NUNN, Case No. 2:24-cv-01642-GMN-MDC 6 Plaintiff. DISMISSAL ORDER 7 8 9 Plaintiff Tyrone Noel Nunn attempted to initiate a lawsuit in federal court but failed 10 to file a complaint or satisfy the matter of the filing fee. On September 13, 2024, this Court 11 ordered Plaintiff to submit a complaint and file a fully complete application to proceed in 12 forma pauperis or pay the full $405 filing fee on or before October 11, 2024. (ECF No. 3.) 13 The Court warned Plaintiff that the action could be dismissed if he failed to submit a 14 complaint and file a fully complete application to proceed in forma pauperis with all three 15 documents or pay the full $405 filing fee for a civil action by that deadline. (Id. at 2-3.) 16 That deadline expired and Plaintiff did not submit a complaint, file a fully complete 17 application to proceed in forma pauperis, pay the full $405 filing fee, or otherwise respond. 18 I. DISCUSSION 19 District courts have the inherent power to control their dockets and “[i]n the 20 exercise of that power, they may impose sanctions including, where appropriate . . . 21 dismissal” of a case. Thompson v. Hous. Auth. of City of Los Angeles, 782 F.2d 829, 831 22 (9th Cir. 1986). A court may dismiss an action based on a party’s failure to obey a court 23 order or comply with local rules. See Carey v. King, 856 F.2d 1439, 1440-41 (9th Cir. 24 1988) (affirming dismissal for failure to comply with local rule requiring pro se plaintiffs to 25 keep court apprised of address); Malone v. U.S. Postal Service, 833 F.2d 128, 130 (9th 26 Cir. 1987) (dismissal for failure to comply with court order). In determining whether to 27 dismiss an action on one of these grounds, the Court must consider: (1) the public’s 28 interest in expeditious resolution of litigation; (2) the Court’s need to manage its docket; 2 cases on their merits; and (5) the availability of less drastic alternatives. See In re 3 Phenylpropanolamine Prod. Liab. Litig., 460 F.3d 1217, 1226 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting 4 Malone v. U.S. Postal Serv., 833 F.2d 128, 130 (9th Cir. 1987)). 5 The first two factors, the public’s interest in expeditiously resolving this litigation 6 and the Court’s interest in managing its docket, weigh in favor of dismissal of Plaintiff’s 7 claims. The third factor, risk of prejudice to defendants, also weighs in favor of dismissal 8 because a presumption of injury arises from the occurrence of unreasonable delay in filing 9 a pleading ordered by the court or prosecuting an action. See Anderson v. Air West, 542 10 F.2d 522, 524 (9th Cir. 1976). The fourth factor—the public policy favoring disposition of 11 cases on their merits—is greatly outweighed by the factors favoring dismissal. 12 The fifth factor requires the Court to consider whether less drastic alternatives can 13 be used to correct the party’s failure that brought about the Court’s need to consider 14 dismissal. See Yourish v. Cal. Amplifier, 191 F.3d 983, 992 (9th Cir. 1999) (explaining 15 that considering less drastic alternatives before the party has disobeyed a court order 16 does not satisfy this factor); accord Pagtalunan v. Galaza, 291 F.3d 639, 643 & n.4 (9th 17 Cir. 2002) (explaining that “the persuasive force of” earlier Ninth Circuit cases that 18 “implicitly accepted pursuit of less drastic alternatives prior to disobedience of the court’s 19 order as satisfying this element[,]” i.e., like the “initial granting of leave to amend coupled 20 with the warning of dismissal for failure to comply[,]” have been “eroded” by Yourish). 21 Courts “need not exhaust every sanction short of dismissal before finally dismissing a 22 case, but must explore possible and meaningful alternatives.” Henderson v. Duncan, 779 23 F.2d 1421, 1424 (9th Cir. 1986). Because this action cannot realistically proceed until 24 and unless Plaintiff submits a complaint and either files a fully complete application to 25 proceed in forma pauperis or pays the $405 filing fee for a civil action, the only alternative 26 is to enter a second order setting another deadline. But the reality of repeating an ignored 27 order is that it often only delays the inevitable and squanders the Court’s finite resources. 28 The circumstances here do not indicate that this case will be an exception: there is no 1 || hint that Plaintiff needs additional time or evidence that he did not receive the Court’s 2 || order. Setting another deadline is not a meaningful alternative given these circumstances. 3 || So the fifth factor favors dismissal. || Il. CONCLUSION 5 Having thoroughly considered these dismissal factors, the Court finds that they 6 || weigh in favor of dismissal. It is therefore ordered that this action is dismissed without 7 || prejudice based on Plaintiff's failure to submit a complaint and file a fully complete 8 || application to proceed in forma pauperis or pay the full $405 filing fee in compliance with 9 || this Court’s September 13, 2024, order. The Clerk of Court is directed to enter judgment 10 || accordingly and close this case. No other documents may be filed in this now-closed 11 || case. If Plaintiff wishes to pursue his claims, he must file a complaint in a new case and 12 || satisfy the matter of the filing fee. 13 14 DATED: October 18, 2024. i 16 Zi /v Gloria M. Navarro, Judge 17 ae ins District Court 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28