Ames
- Yvonne Rogers
- 4:22-cv-02414
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In re Maxwell Ryan Ames: Judge Rogers dismissed the complaint without prejudice because Ames did not update his address.
Maxwell Ryan Ames's complaint was dismissed without prejudice, all pending motions were terminated, and the case file was closed.
What happened
In re Maxwell Ryan Ames involved a complaint filed without a lawyer by a prisoner under a federal civil-rights law. Court mail was returned as undeliverable with a notation that Ames was not in custody, and he did not provide a new address or file anything else.
The court said its local rule required a person representing himself to promptly report an address change. The rule allowed dismissal without prejudice when court mail was returned and the person did not provide a current address within 60 days. More than 60 days had passed.
The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice under the local rule, directed the clerk to terminate all pending motions, and closed the case. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers issued the order.
The detailed version
- Ames · No. 4:22-cv-02414
- Yvonne Rogers
- Sept. 23, 2022
Background
Maxwell Ryan Ames filed a prisoner complaint without a lawyer under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The case was reassigned from a magistrate judge to Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in light of a Ninth Circuit decision.
On June 17, 2022, and July 1, 2022, mail sent by the court to Ames was returned as undeliverable. The returned mail stated that it was “NOT DELIVERABLE AS ADDRESSED,” that it was “UNABLE TO FORWARD,” and that Ames was “NOT IN CUSTODY.” Ames did not update his address with the court or submit any further filings.
Court’s Reasoning
Northern District of California Local Rule 3-11(a) requires a self-represented party whose address changes during a case to promptly file a notice providing the new address. Under Local Rule 3-11(b), the court may dismiss a complaint without prejudice when court mail to the self-represented party is returned as undeliverable and the party does not send a written communication with a current address within 60 days of the return.
The court found that more than 60 days had passed since the mail was returned and that it had not received a notice of a new address from Ames.
Disposition
The court dismissed the complaint without prejudice under Local Rule 3-11. It also directed the clerk to terminate all pending motions and close the file. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers stated that the order was issued on September 23, 2022.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.