United States of America v. Bogart et al

Filing 106

ORDER granting DE 104 MOTION for Leave to Respond re 91 Partial MOTION for Summary Judgment filed by United States of America. The Defendants may have until August 30, 2013, to file a response. It is so ORDERED. Signed by Magistrate Judge Joe Brown on 8/13/13. (xc:Pro se party and Southern Country Ranch by regular and certified mail.)(DOCKET TEXT SUMMARY ONLY-ATTORNEYS MUST OPEN THE PDF AND READ THE ORDER.)(la) Modified on 8/14/2013 (la).

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
NASHVILLE DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff
v.
DUSTIN B. BOGART, et al.,
Defendants

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No. 3:12-0179
Judge Sharp/Brown

O R D E R
The Defendants have filed a motion (Docket Entry 104)
requesting an additional 30 days to respond to the Plaintiff’s
pending motion for partial summary judgment (Docket Entry 91). This
motion is GRANTED in part.
Defendants state that they were unsure of the time limits
they have for a response. The Magistrate Judge would refer them to
the scheduling order, which was entered by the Magistrate Judge
after a telephone conference with the Defendants (Docket Entry 55).
Paragraph 8 specifically states that responses to dispositive
motions are due 28 days after the motion. The motion for partial
summary judgment was filed on July 1, 2013. Therefore, after
allowing three days for service, the Defendants’ response was due
on August 1, 2013. There should have been no confusion about when
a response was due.
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure set out various
deadlines for responses as well as the local rules of Court. For
instance, Local Rule 7.01 deals with responses. In this case, the

Magistrate Judge, for the benefit of the parties, set out a
specific deadline in the scheduling order. Nevertheless, giving the
Defendants the benefit of the doubt they may have until August 30,
2013, to file a response.
In their motion Defendants state that they believed the
Court

would

order

a

response

from

the

Plaintiff

to

their

affirmative defense. The answer and affirmative defense of the
Defendants were just that. If a party wishes a court to take a
specific action that must be filed in a separate motion, such as a
motion to dismiss or a motion for partial or full summary judgment.
Claims in the complaint and claims in the answer and affirmative
defenses are just pleadings. They do not require further response,
except

as

the

case

progresses

through

discovery

and

motion

practice, and perhaps to a trial where the plaintiff’s claims must
be proven and the defendant’s affirmative defenses must be proven.
It is so ORDERED.

/s/ Joe B. Brown
JOE B. BROWN
United States Magistrate Judge

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