Bielen v. Rochester Police Dept.
- Wilhelmina Wright
- 0:19-cv-00872
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 2
In Bielen v. Rochester Police Dept., Judge Wright dismissed the matter without prejudice for failure to prosecute and denied defendants’ motions to dismiss as moot.
The matter was dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute, and the defendants’ motions to dismiss were denied as moot.
What happened
Bielen v. Rochester Police Dept. concerned a report and recommendation issued by Magistrate Judge Hildy Bowbeer. No party objected to that recommendation, so the court reviewed it for clear error.
The court found no clear error, adopted the report and recommendation, and dismissed the matter without prejudice for failure to prosecute. It also denied the defendants’ motions to dismiss as moot.
Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright entered the order on December 10, 2019. The order also stated that an earlier report and recommendation was moot because of the dismissal.
The detailed version
- Bielen v. Rochester Police Dept. · No. 0:19-cv-00872
- Wilhelmina Wright
- Dec. 10, 2019
Background
The court considered an October 28, 2019 report and recommendation from United States Magistrate Judge Hildy Bowbeer. No objection was filed. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72(b), the court therefore reviewed the recommendation for clear error, meaning an obvious mistake.
Ruling
The court found no clear error and adopted the report and recommendation. It dismissed the matter without prejudice for failure to prosecute. A dismissal without prejudice does not bar refiling based solely on that dismissal, although the opinion does not discuss any refiling requirements or deadlines.
The court also denied the defendants’ motions to dismiss as moot, meaning the court did not need to decide those motions because the matter was dismissed on another ground. The court stated that an August 22, 2019 report and recommendation was moot as well.
Effect of the Order
The order ended this matter at that stage based on failure to prosecute, rather than deciding the merits of the underlying claims. Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright directed that judgment be entered accordingly.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.