Bullard v. St. Andra et al

Filing 84

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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