1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JOHN ANTHONY HOLLIDAY, Case No.: 1:24-cv-00416-SKO 12 Plaintiff, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO

DISMISS ACTION FOR PLAINTIFF’S

13 v. FAILURE TO OBEY COURT ORDERS AND

FAILURE TO PROSECUTE

14 MADERA COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE

JAIL DIVISION, 14-DAY OBJECTION PERIOD

15 Defendant. Clerk of the Court to Assign District Judge 16

17 18 Plaintiff John Anthony Holliday is a pretrial detainee proceeding pro se and in forma 19 pauperis in this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 20 I. INTRODUCTION 21 Plaintiff filed his original complaint on April 8, 2024. (Doc. 1.) On May 20, 2024, the 22 Court issued its First Screening Order. (Doc. 6.) The Court found Plaintiff’s complaint failed to 23 state a claim upon which relief can be granted. (Id. at 4-8.) Plaintiff was granted leave to file a 24 first amended complaint or a notice of voluntary dismissal within 21 days of the date of the order. 25 (Id. at 8-9.) More than 21 days have passed, and Plaintiff has failed to file either a first amended 26 complaint or a notice of voluntary dismissal. 27 // // 1 II. DISCUSSION 2 The Local Rules, corresponding with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, provide, 3 “[f]ailure of counsel or of a party to comply with . . . any order of the Court may be grounds for 4 the imposition by the Court of any and all sanctions . . . within the inherent power of the Court.” 5 Local Rule 110. “District courts have inherent power to control their dockets” and, in exercising 6 that power, may impose sanctions, including dismissal of an action. Thompson v. Housing Auth., 7 City of Los Angeles, 782 F.2d 829, 831 (9th Cir. 1986). A court may dismiss an action based on a 8 party’s failure to prosecute an action, obey a court order, or comply with local rules. See, e.g., 9 Ferdik v. Bonzelet, 963 F.2d 1258, 1260-61 (9th Cir. 1992) (dismissal for failure to comply with a 10 court order to amend a complaint); Malone v. U.S. Postal Service, 833 F.2d 128, 130-31 (9th Cir. 11 1987) (dismissal for failure to comply with a court order); Henderson v. Duncan, 779 F.2d 1421, 12 1424 (9th Cir. 1986) (dismissal for failure to prosecute and to comply with local rules). 13 In determining whether to dismiss an action, the Court must consider several factors: 14 (1) the public’s interest in expeditious resolution of litigation; (2) the Court’s need to manage its 15 docket; (3) the risk of prejudice to the defendants; (4) the public policy favoring disposition of 16 cases on their merits; and (5) the availability of less drastic sanctions. Henderson, 779 F.2d at 17 1423; Carey v. King, 856 F.2d 1439, 1440 (9th Cir. 1988). 18 Plaintiff has filed neither a first amended complaint as ordered nor a notice of voluntary 19 dismissal. The Court cannot effectively manage its docket if Plaintiff ceases litigating his case. 20 Thus, the Court finds that both the first and second factors—the public’s interest in the 21 expeditious resolution of litigation and the Court’s need to manage its docket— weigh in favor of 22 dismissal. Carey, 856 F.2d at 1440. 23 While the risk of prejudice to defendants is a lesser factor here because the named 24 defendants have not appeared in the action, a presumption of harm or injury arises from the 25 occurrence of unreasonable delay in prosecuting an action. See Anderson v. Air W., 542 F.2d 522, 26 524 (9th Cir. 1976). Plaintiff’s failure to file a first amended complaint or a notice of voluntary 27 dismissal amounts to an unreasonable delay in prosecuting this action. Therefore, the Court finds 1 at 1440. 2 The fourth factor usually weighs against dismissal because public policy favors 3 disposition on the merits. Pagtalunan v. Galaza, 291 F.3d 639, 643 (9th Cir. 2002). However, 4 “this factor lends little support to a party whose responsibility it is to move a case toward 5 disposition on the merits but whose conduct impedes progress in that direction.” In re 6 Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) Products Liability Litigation, 460 F.3d 1217, 1228 (9th Cir. 2006) 7 (citation omitted). Plaintiff is failing to move this case forward by not filing an amended 8 complaint or a notice of voluntary dismissal, and impeding its progress by failing to obey court 9 orders. Thus, the Court finds the fourth factor—the public policy favoring disposition on the 10 merits—also weighs in favor of dismissal. Carey, 856 F.2d at 1440. 11 Finally, the Court’s warning to a party that failure to obey the court’s order will result in 12 dismissal satisfies the “considerations of the alternatives” requirement. Ferdik, 963 F.2d at 1262; 13 Malone, 833 F.2d at 132-33; Henderson, 779 F.2d at 1424. Here, the screening order expressly 14 warned: “If Plaintiff fails to comply with this order, the Court will recommend that this 15 action be dismissed, without prejudice, for failure to obey a court order and for failure to 16 prosecute.” (See Doc. 6 at 8-9, emphasis in original.) Additionally, Plaintiff was previously 17 warned that a failure to obey court orders may result in dismissal of the case. (See Doc. 3 at 1 18 [First Informational Order in Prisoner/Civil Detainee Civil Rights Case].) In that same order, 19 Plaintiff was advised that “all Court deadlines are strictly enforced.” (Id. at 5.) Thus, Plaintiff had 20 adequate warning that dismissal could result from his noncompliance with Court orders. 21 Moreover, at this stage of the proceedings, there is little available to the Court that would 22 constitute a satisfactory lesser sanction while protecting the Court from further unnecessary 23 expenditure of its scarce resources. Therefore, the fifth factor—the availability of less drastic 24 sanctions—weighs in favor of dismissal. Carey, 856 F.2d at 1440. 25 In sum, it appears that Plaintiff has abandoned this action. More than 21 days have passed 26 following the Court’s screening order directing Plaintiff to file a first amended complaint or a 27 notice of voluntary dismissal. Whether Plaintiff has done so intentionally or mistakenly is 1 III. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 2 Based on the foregoing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall 3 assign a district judge to this action. 4 Further, for the reasons stated above, the Court RECOMMENDS that this action be 5 DISMISSED without prejudice for Plaintiff’s failure to obey court orders and failure to 6 prosecute. 7 These Findings and Recommendations will be submitted to the district judge assigned to 8 this case, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(l). Within 14 days of the date of service of these 9 Findings and Recommendations, a party may file written objections with the Court. The 10 document should be captioned, “Objections to Magistrate Judge’s Findings and 11 Recommendations.” Failure to file objections within the specified time may result in waiver of 12 rights on appeal. Wilkerson v. Wheeler, 772 F.3d 834, 839 (9th Cir. 2014) (citing Baxter v. 13 Sullivan, 923 F.2d 1391, 1394 (9th Cir. 1991)). 14

IT IS SO ORDERED.

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16 Dated: June 17, 2024 /s/ Sheila K. Oberto .

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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