Johnson v. Paul
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Janis L. Sammartino (author)
Analysis
The court considered a pro se plaintiff's motion for default judgment after the plaintiff failed to file an amended complaint following a dismissal for failure to state a claim. The court denied the motion for default, dismissed the action with prejudice, and closed the case.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Denial of Plaintiff's Motion for Default“Therefore, the Court DENIES Plaintiff’s Motion for Default (ECF No. 14).” | agree with court The court correctly denied the motion because a default judgment cannot be entered when the underlying complaint has been dismissed and no valid claim is pending. The plaintiff's failure to file the required amended complaint meant there was no active case in which to enter default. |
Dismissal of Action with Prejudice“Accordingly, the Court DISMISSES WITH PREJUDICE the entire action in accordance with the Court’s November 20, 2020 Order (ECF No. 9).” | agree with court The court properly converted the dismissal of the complaint into a dismissal of the entire action with prejudice because the plaintiff failed to file an amended complaint within the time allowed, as warned in the prior order. |
Closure of Case“The Clerk of Court SHALL CLOSE the file.” | agree with court Closing the file is the appropriate administrative step following a final dismissal with prejudice. |
The order itself: sound — The order is procedurally sound. It correctly identifies that default is inappropriate because the complaint is dismissed, and it properly applies Ninth Circuit precedent to dismiss the entire action with prejudice due to the plaintiff's failure to comply with the court's order to file an amended complaint.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 CLARANCE D. JOHNSON, Case No.: 20-CV-2174-JLS (WVG)
11 Plaintiff, ORDER (1) DENYING MOTION 12 v. FOR DEFAULT, (2) DISMISSING ACTION 13 POPE FRANCIS PAUL, et al., WITH PREJUDICE, AND 14 Defendants. (3) CLOSING CASE 15 (ECF No. 14) 16 17 18 Presently before the Court is Plaintiff Clarance D. Johnson’s Motion for Default 19 (“Mot.,” ECF No. 14). Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, filed a Complaint and a motion to 20 proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”). See ECF Nos. 1, 2. The Court granted Plaintiff’s 21 motion to proceed IFP and screened Plaintiff’s Complaint pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). 22 See ECF No. 9. The Court dismissed Plaintiff’s Complaint as frivolous and for failure to 23 state a claim on which relief may be granted on November 20, 2020. Id. (citing 28 U.S.C. 24 § 1915(e)(2)(B)). The Court granted Plaintiff leave to file an amended complaint within 25 thirty (30) days, warning that failure to do so would result in a final order dismissing this 26 civil action with prejudice. Id. at 5. 27 Plaintiff filed a Motion for Default Judgment nunc pro tunc to December 1, 2020. 28 ECF No. 11. The Court denied the motion on December 10, 2020 because Plaintiff had 1 filed an amended complaint. ECF No. 12. The Court again instructed Plaintiff to file 2 amended complaint by December 21, 2020 and stated that “[i]f Plaintiff fails to file an 3 |}amended complaint . . . the Court will enter a final Order dismissing this action.” See id. 4 |/at 2. Plaintiff filed the present Motion for Default nunc pro tunc to December 15, 2020. 5 No. 14. Plaintiff still has not filed an amended complaint. 6 Default would be inappropriate because Plaintiff's complaint remains dismissed. 7 || Therefore, the Court DENIES Plaintiff’s Motion for Default (ECF No. 14). 8 As of the date of this Order, Plaintiff has not filed an amended complaint. See Lira 9 || v. Herrera, 427 F.3d 1164, 1169 (9th Cir. 2005) (“Ifa plaintiff does not take advantage of 10 ||the opportunity to fix his complaint, a district court may convert the dismissal of the 11 |/complaint into dismissal of the entire action.”). Accordingly, the Court DISMISSES 12 || WITH PREJUDICE the entire action in accordance with the Court’s November 20, 2020 13 || Order (ECF No. 9). The Clerk of Court SHALL CLOSE the file. 14 IT IS SO ORDERED. 15 Dated: January 5, 2021 . tt f te 16 on. Janis L. Sammartino 7 United States District Judge 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28