Ehlers v. Smoot

Background

Edwin A. Ehlers filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus against Patricia W. Smoot, Patricia K. Cushwa, Charles T. Massarone, and Michael Alberts. The court had previously adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation that Ehlers’s claims would be more appropriately presented in a traditional civil complaint. The court therefore gave Ehlers an opportunity to file an amended pleading by March 27, 2019, and later extended the deadline to May 6, 2019, because the court was concerned that he might not have received earlier notices.

Disposition

The extended deadline passed, but Ehlers did not file an amended pleading. The court found no indication that he had not received its orders and noted that he had not communicated with the court about the case since September 19, 2018. Consistent with its prior orders, the court ordered that Ehlers’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus was denied without prejudice and that the action was dismissed.

Classification

This is a procedural order because the court dismissed the matter after Ehlers failed to file the required amended pleading and did not reach the underlying claims.