Meredith v. Roberts et al

Filing 8

ORDER ENTERED: This action is dismissed and all relief is denied without prejudice. Plaintiff's motion 2 for leave to proceed in forma pauperis is denied for failure to pay the assessed partial fee. Signed by Senior District Judge Sam A. Crow on 7/6/2012. (Mailed to pro se party Robert Meredith by regular mail.) (smnd)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF KANSAS

ROBERT MEREDITH,
Plaintiff,
v.

CASE NO.

12-3027-SAC

RAY ROBERTS, Secretary
of Corrections, et al.,
Defendants.
O R D E R
This civil complaint claiming unconstitutional censorship of
certain publications as sexually explicit under 42 U.S.C. ' 1983, was
filed pro se by plaintiff while he was an inmate at the Winfield
Correctional Facility, Winfield, Kansas.

On April 20, 2012, upon

screening the complaint, the court entered a Memorandum and Order
assessing an initial partial filing fee of $3.00 and setting forth
deficiencies in the complaint.

Plaintiff was given time to pay the

part fee and to file a complete amended complaint that cured the
deficiencies discussed by the court.
A copy of the Memorandum and Order was mailed by the clerk
to plaintiff at the address provided by him.

The court’s mail was

returned marked “Return to Sender/No Longer at this Facility.”
KASPER/KDOC records available on-line indicate that Mr. Meredith was
released on March 12, 2012.

Plaintiff has not provided the court with

a change of address notification.

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Nor has he paid the part fee or

filed any pleading or other response to the court’s screening order.
The time in which he was to pay the fee and file an amended complaint
has expired.

Plaintiff was warned in the court’s prior order that

if he failed to comply, this action could be dismissed without further
notice.

The court dismisses this action on account of plaintiff’s

failure to satisfy the filing fee prerequisites and failure to comply
with the court’s other orders within the time allotted.
“Rule 41(b) authorizes a district court, upon a defendant’s
motion, to order the dismissal of an action for failure to prosecute
as well as for failure to comply with the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure or ‘a court order’.”
(10th

Cir.

Young v. U.S., 316 Fed.Appx. 764, 771

2009)(unpublished

case

cited

as

persuasive,

controlling, authority)(citing Fed.R.Civ.P. 41(b)).

not

“This rule has

been interpreted as permitting district courts to dismiss actions sua
sponte when one of these conditions is met.”

Id. (citing Link v.

Wabash R.R. Co., 370 U.S. 626, 630-31 (1962); Olsen v. Mapes, 333 F.3d
1199, 1204 n. 3 (10th Cir. 2003)).

“In addition, it is well

established in this circuit that a district court is not obligated
to follow any particular procedures when dismissing an action without
prejudice under Rule 41(b).”

Id. at 771-72 (citations omitted).

IT IS THEREFORE BY THE COURT ORDERED that this action is dismissed
and all relief is denied, without prejudice.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that plaintiff’s Motion for Leave to
Proceed in forma pauperis (Doc. 2) is denied for failure to pay the

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assessed partial fee.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated this 6th day of July, 2012, at Topeka, Kansas.

s/Sam A. Crow
U. S. Senior District Judge

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