Morales v. Frauenheim

Background

The court addressed two habeas petitions filed by Ernesto Vega Morales. Morales filed one petition without a lawyer on March 3, 2020 in a separately numbered case. He filed the petition in this case on April 29, 2020 through counsel. The court stated that the petitions contained overlapping claims.

The court explained that federal courts have broad authority to prevent duplicative or unnecessary litigation and would not allow Morales to pursue both petitions at the same time. It also noted that ruling on the petition filed without a lawyer could cause the counseled petition to be treated as a second or successive petition, which would require permission from the court of appeals before filing.

Failure to Respond

On March 5, 2021, the court ordered Morales to answer questions and state whether he intended to proceed with the petition filed without a lawyer or the petition filed through counsel. Counsel requested a 31-day extension, through April 19, 2021, and the court granted that request. The court stated that it had received no response as of May 14, 2021.

Order

The court issued an order to show cause, meaning Morales was required to explain why the case should not be dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b). The court ordered a written response by May 21, 2021 and warned that failure to respond by that date would result in dismissal of this action without prejudice. The court did not dismiss the case in this order. It also stated that the order did not affect Morales's separately filed petition submitted without a lawyer.