Hodges v. California Correctional Health Care Services et al

Filing 16

ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Craig M. Kellison on 10/12/2016 DISMISSING this action, without prejudice, for lack of prosecution and failure to comply with court rules and orders; and the Clerk shall enter judgment and close this file. CASE CLOSED. (Yin, K)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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CHRISTOPHER HODGES,

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No. 2:15-CV-0179-CMK-P

Plaintiff,
vs.

ORDER

CALIFORNIA CORRECTIONAL
HEALTH CARE SERVICES, et al.,

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Defendants.
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Plaintiff, a prisoner proceeding pro se, brings this civil rights action pursuant to

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42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff has consented to Magistrate Judge jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C.

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§ 636(c) and no other party has been served or appeared in the action.

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On February 24, 2016, the court directed plaintiff to file an amended complaint

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within 30 days. On May 13, 2016, the court granted plaintiff’s motion for an extension of time

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and extended that deadline to June 12, 2016. Plaintiff was warned that failure to file an amended

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complaint may result in dismissal of this action for lack of prosecution and failure to comply

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with court rules and orders. See Local Rule 110. As of June 29, 2016, plaintiff had not filed an

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amended complaint and the court directed plaintiff to show cause in writing within 30 days why
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this action should not be dismissed for failure to comply with court rules and orders and lack of

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prosecution. To date, plaintiff has not filed an amended complaint or otherwise responded to the

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court’s June 29, 2016, order to show cause.

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The court must weigh five factors before imposing the harsh sanction of

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dismissal. See Bautista v. Los Angeles County, 216 F.3d 837, 841 (9th Cir. 2000); Malone v.

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U.S. Postal Service, 833 F.2d 128, 130 (9th Cir. 1987). Those factors are: (1) the public's

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interest in expeditious resolution of litigation; (2) the court's need to manage its own docket; (3)

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the risk of prejudice to opposing parties; (4) the public policy favoring disposition of cases on

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their merits; and (5) the availability of less drastic sanctions. See id.; see also Ghazali v. Moran,

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46 F.3d 52, 53 (9th Cir. 1995) (per curiam). A warning that the action may be dismissed as an

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appropriate sanction is considered a less drastic alternative sufficient to satisfy the last factor.

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See Malone, 833 F.2d at 132-33 & n.1. The sanction of dismissal for lack of prosecution is

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appropriate where there has been unreasonable delay. See Henderson v. Duncan, 779 F.2d 1421,

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1423 (9th Cir. 1986). Dismissal has also been held to be an appropriate sanction for failure to

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comply with an order to file an amended complaint. See Ferdik v. Bonzelet, 963 F.2d 1258,

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1260-61 (9th Cir. 1992).

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Having considered the factors outlined above, and in light of plaintiff’s failure to
file an amended complaint, the court finds that dismissal is an appropriate sanctions

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Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

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1.

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This action is dismissed, without prejudice, for lack of prosecution and

failure to comply with court rules and orders; and
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The Clerk of the Court is directed to enter judgment and close this file.

DATED: October 12, 2016
______________________________________
CRAIG M. KELLISON
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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