Bonilla

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

STEVEN WAYNE BONILLA, Case No. 19-cv-07708-VC (PR) Petitioner,

ORDER OF DISMISSAL WITH

v. PREJUDICE CLARANCE DON CLAY, et al., Respondents. Plaintiff Steven Wayne Bonilla, a state inmate, has filed a document entitled, “statutory default judgment” seeking default judgments against a list of hundreds of government employees, private individuals and businesses. The clerk of the court has incorrectly labelled this document a petition for a writ of mandamus. Under Rule 55 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, judgment by default may be entered “[w]hen a party against whom affirmative relief is sought has failed to plead or otherwise defend as provided by these rules.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(a). Rule 55(b)(2) provides that the court may grant a default judgment after default has been entered by the Clerk of the Court. Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(b)(2). Default judgments are generally disfavored, and “[c]ases should be decided upon their merits whenever reasonably possible.” Eitel v. McCool, 782 F.2d 1470, 1472 (9th Cir. 1986). Bonilla seeks default judgments because the named individuals…