Cranford v. Badagon

Filing 130

ORDER Denying Plaintiff's 129 Motion for Default Judgment, signed by Magistrate Judge Barbara A. McAuliffe on 12/29/15. (Verduzco, M)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 8 9 10 ARCHIE CRANFORD, Plaintiff, 11 v. 12 13 ANGELA BACLAGON, Defendant. 14 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) 1:11-cv-00736-BAM ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR DEFAULT JUDGMENT (ECF No. 129) 15 Plaintiff Archie Cranford (“Plaintiff”) is a civil detainee proceeding pro se and in forma 16 17 pauperis in this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The parties have consented 18 magistrate judge jurisdiction in this matter. (ECF No. 112.) Currently before the Court is 19 Plaintiff’s December 24, 2015 motion for an entry of default against Defendant Baclagon, based 20 on Defendant’s failure to respond to Plaintiff’s motion for discovery. (ECF No. 129.) 21 Entry of default is appropriate as to any party against whom a judgment for affirmative 22 relief is sought that has failed to plead or otherwise defend as provided by the Federal Rules of 23 Civil Procedure and where that fact is made to appear by affidavit or otherwise. Fed. R. Civ. P. 24 55(a). After entry of default, the plaintiff can seek entry of default judgment. Fed. R. Civ. P. 25 55(b)(1) and (2). “Default judgments are generally disfavored, and whenever it is reasonably 26 possible, cases should be decided upon their merits.” In re Hammer, 940 F.2d 524, 525 (9th Cir. 27 1991) (internal punctuation and citations omitted). 28 /// 1 1 Plaintiff is not entitled to a default judgment in this matter. When Defendant did not 2 respond to Plaintiff’s motion for discovery within the time permitted, the Court deemed the 3 motion submitted pursuant to Local Rule 230(l), and decided its merits. Based on Plaintiff’s 4 unchallenged assertions and the Court’s review of the record, the Court ordered certain relief for 5 Plaintiff as sought in his motion. (ECF No. 120.) That was all the relief Plaintiff was entitled to; 6 Defendant’s failure to respond to a non-dispositive discovery motion does not amount to a failure 7 to defend this action. Furthermore, although Defendant did not challenge Plaintiff’s discovery 8 motion, Defendant has otherwise defended this action, including by recently filing pretrial 9 documents in accordance with this Court’s pretrial order. (ECF Nos. 122-127.) Since Defendant 10 has not failed to defend this action or otherwise defaulted here, entry of default against her is not 11 appropriate. 12 Accordingly, it is HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff’s motion for a default judgment 13 (ECF No. 129) is DENIED. 14 IT IS SO ORDERED. 15 Dated: /s/ Barbara December 29, 2015 16 A. McAuliffe _ UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2

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