Roybal v. Schnell
- Eric Tostrud
- 0:24-cv-01652
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 3
In Roybal v. Schnell, Judge David T. Schultz recommended dismissing three plaintiffs without prejudice for not paying initial fees, while Roybal’s fee-waiver application would be granted separately.
Damion John Gullickson, Jr., Shawn Joseph Nelson, and Cameron Eugene Urban were recommended for dismissal without prejudice, and their fee-waiver applications were recommended for denial as moot. Kristopher Lee Roybal paid his initial partial filing fee, and the opinion states that his fee-waiver application would be granted separately.
What happened
In Roybal v. Schnell, four plaintiffs remained after the court dismissed other plaintiffs who did not seek fee waivers or pay the filing fee. Roybal received more time to pay and paid his initial partial fee, but Gullickson, Nelson, and Urban did not pay or respond to the court’s order.
The court recommended dismissing Gullickson, Nelson, and Urban without prejudice for failing to prosecute the case. It also recommended denying each of their fee-waiver applications as moot. The recommendation said Roybal’s fee-waiver application would be granted in a separate order.
Judge David T. Schultz issued this report and recommendation, which was not yet a final order or judgment. The parties could file written objections within 14 days after receiving it.
The detailed version
- Roybal v. Schnell · No. 0:24-cv-01652
- Eric Tostrud
- Aug. 7, 2024
Background
The complaint originally named 16 Minnesota state prisoners as plaintiffs. The court had already dismissed all but Kristopher Lee Roybal, Damion John Gullickson, Jr., Shawn Joseph Nelson, and Cameron Eugene Urban after those plaintiffs failed to apply for a filing-fee waiver or pay the case’s filing fee.
The four remaining plaintiffs were ordered to pay an initial partial filing fee by July 18, 2024. Roybal received an extension until August 12, 2024, and paid his initial partial fee. Gullickson, Nelson, and Urban did not respond to the order or pay their required fees.
Recommendation
Magistrate Judge David T. Schultz recommended dismissing Gullickson, Nelson, and Urban from the case without prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) for failure to prosecute. A dismissal without prejudice does not bar a later filing based solely on the dismissal’s terms.
The recommendation also stated that Gullickson’s, Nelson’s, and Urban’s applications to proceed without paying the full filing fee should each be denied as moot. It stated that Roybal’s application to proceed without paying the full filing fee would be granted by a separate order.
Status and procedure
This document was a report and recommendation, not a final order or judgment of the District Court. It was not directly appealable to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The parties could file specific written objections within 14 days after being served with the recommendation, and responses to objections could be filed within 14 days after service of the objections.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.