Gamble III v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Cynthia Ann Bashant (author)
Analysis
The parties filed a joint motion to dismiss the action with prejudice pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(ii). The court granted the motion and dismissed the case with prejudice.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Joint Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 22) granted; action dismissed with prejudice.“Having considered the parties’ request, the Court GRANTS the Joint Motion. (ECF No. 22.) Thus, the Court DISMISSES WITH PREJUDICE the instant action.” | agree with court The court correctly applied Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(ii), which allows voluntary dismissal by stipulation signed by all parties. The parties explicitly stipulated to dismissal with prejudice, overriding the default rule of dismissal without prejudice. The court's reliance on local rules requiring a joint motion format is consistent with the filing. |
The order itself: sound — The order is procedurally correct. It accurately cites the relevant Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and correctly notes that while a court order is not strictly required for a stipulated dismissal, the local rules of the Southern District of California require such stipulations to be filed as joint motions. The court properly granted the motion based on the parties' explicit stipulation to dismiss with prejudice.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JOHN E. GAMBLE, III, Case No. 23-cv-1706-BAS-BLM 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING JOINT 13 v. MOTION TO DISMISS (ECF No. 22) 14 U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSOMS ENFORCEMENT, 15 Defendant. 16 17 Before this Court is the parties’ request to dismiss this action with prejudice pursuant 18 to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“Rule”) 41. (Mot., ECF No. 22.) Under Rule 19 41(a)(1)(A), a plaintiff has an absolute right to voluntarily dismiss its action by (1) filing a 20 notice of voluntary dismissal before a defendant has filed an answer or moved for summary 21 judgment, see Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i), or (2) filing a stipulation of dismissal signed by all 22 parties who have appeared, see Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(ii). See also Wilson v. City of San Jose, 23 111 F.3d 688, 692 (9th Cir. 1997). Dismissal pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(ii) is effective 24 upon the filing of a compliant notice or stipulation. No court order is required. See Stone 25 v. Woodford, CIV-F-05-845 AWI-DLB, 2007 WL 527766 (E.D. Cal. Feb. 16, 2007). 26 Nonetheless, the local civil rules of this district require that where, as here, litigants seek 27 28 1 || voluntary dismissal by filing a signed stipulation pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i1), such a 2 ||stipulation must be filed as a joint motion.! 3 A dismissal is without prejudice unless the parties stipulate otherwise. See Fed. R. 4 ||Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(B). Here, the parties have stipulated otherwise. (See Mot., ECF No. 22 5 (stipulating to dismissal with prejudice).) 6 Having considered the parties’ request, the Court GRANTS the Joint Motion. (ECF 7 || No. 22.) Thus, the Court DISMISSES WITH PREJUDICE the instant action. The Clerk 8 || of Court is directed to close the case. 9 IT IS SO ORDERED. / , 10 || DATED: January 12, 2024 Lin A (Lyohaa 6 11 United States District Judge 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 || ——_—— 28 See Electronic Case Filing Administrative Policies and Procedures Manual, United States District Court for the Southern District of California.