Somera v. County of San Joaquin et al

Filing 56

ORDER signed by District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller on 6/30/16 ORDERING that this action is DISMISSED without prejudice. CASE CLOSED (Kastilahn, A)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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CHESTER MARK SOMERA,

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No. 2:14-cv-01424-KJM-AC

Plaintiff,
v.

ORDER

COUNTY OF SAN JOAQUIN, et al.,
Defendants.

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Plaintiff Chester Somera is not represented by counsel. On February 23, 2016, the

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court set a status conference for April 14, 2016 and instructed the parties to file a joint status

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report the week before. On April 5, 2016, the defendant filed a status report and notified the court

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that Mr. Somera had not responded to its attempts to correspond. The court therefore ordered Mr.

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Somera to show cause, within fourteen days, why the case should not be dismissed for failure to

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prosecute. Order April 20, 2016, ECF No. 52. Mr. Somera made no response.

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A district court may dismiss an action on its own motion if a plaintiff abandons the

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case. See, e.g., Chambers v. NASCO, Inc., 501 U.S. 32, 44 (1991). Because dismissal is a harsh

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sanction, the court must weigh “(1) the public’s interest in expeditious resolution of litigation;

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(2) the court’s need to manage its docket; (3) the risk of prejudice to the defendants; (4) the public

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policy favoring disposition of cases on their merits; and (5) the availability of less drastic
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sanctions.” In re Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) Products Liab. Litig., 460 F.3d 1217, 1226 (9th

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Cir. 2006). These considerations present a district court with a way “to think about what to do.”

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Id. (citation and quotation marks omitted). The decision is one of discretion. See id.

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Because Mr. Somera has responded neither to this court’s orders nor to the

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defendants’ attempts to contact him, dismissal is appropriate. This resolution is the only means of

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resolving this litigation expeditiously; the matter has been molding away on this court’s docket

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for several months; the defendants have no way to address the claims against them; it seems the

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case will not be resolved on its merits at all; and no less drastic solution has proven effective.

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This action is DISMISSED without prejudice.

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The Clerk’s Office is instructed to CLOSE the case.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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DATED: June 30, 2016

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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