Bullard v. St. Andra et al
Filing
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ORDER DENYING Plaintiff's 81 Miscellaneous Motion, signed by Magistrate Judge Jeremy D. Peterson on 2/3/2020. (Orozco, A)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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EFREN DANIELLE BULLARD,
Case No. 1:17-cv-00328-NONE-JDP
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S
MISCELLANEOUS MOTION
Plaintiff,
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v.
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BENSON, et al.
ECF No. 81
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Defendants.
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Plaintiff Efren Bullard is a state prisoner proceeding without counsel in this civil rights
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action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. On December 4, 2019, plaintiff filed a miscellaneous
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motion. ECF 81. While this motion is labeled as a “dispositive motion,” it does not seek any
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dispositive relief, and so we will not treat it as dispositive. See Andersen v. United States, 298
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F.3d 804, 807 (9th Cir. 2002) (“The substance of the motion, not its form, controls its
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disposition.”). Dispositive motions typically seek to dispose of all or some claims in favor of
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the moving party. Instead, plaintiff’s motion argues that his own claims should not be
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dismissed at this stage in the litigation. See id. at 2 (“[P]laintiff will do the best he can on this
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dispositive motion to present the facts in this civil matter so that his claims will not be
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dismissed.”). Because defendants have no pending motions seeking dismissal, we are not
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currently considering dismissal of any of plaintiff’s claims. We will therefore deny plaintiff’s
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miscellaneous motion as unnecessary.
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We believe plaintiff may have operated under the assumption that he was required to file
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a motion by the relevant dispositive-motion deadline. See id. at 1 (“Plaintiff had to look up the
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word ‘dispositive motion’ in the Blacks Law dictionary to find out what [he] was supposed to
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do in regards to a [Dispositive] Motion.”) (emphasis added). This is not the case; dispositive
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motions are not required. However, plaintiff should be aware that he suffers no prejudice from
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filing the motion or from having it denied as unnecessary.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated:
February 3, 2020
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UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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No. 205.
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