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D. Minn.Procedural orderFiled Nov. 7, 2022

Pritchett v. Hatley

Judge
Katherine Menendez
Docket
0:22-cv-01852
Court
U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
Pages
2
Civil Procedure
In one sentence

Pritchett v. Hatley: Judge Menendez dismissed the action without prejudice for failure to prosecute after Pritchett failed to provide required financial information.

Who this affects

Brandon M. Pritchett's action against Sadie Tyere Hatley was dismissed without prejudice because Pritchett failed to provide required financial information and otherwise failed to prosecute the case.

What happened

In Pritchett v. Hatley, Brandon M. Pritchett did not respond to an order requiring financial information for his request to proceed without paying filing fees. He also had not communicated with the court since starting the case.

A magistrate judge recommended dismissing the case because Pritchett failed to move it forward. No objections were filed, and the court found no clear error in that recommendation.

Judge Katherine Menendez dismissed the action without prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) for failure to prosecute. The court directed that judgment be entered.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Pritchett v. Hatley · No. 0:22-cv-01852
Judge
Katherine Menendez
Date
Nov. 7, 2022

Background

Brandon M. Pritchett sued Sadie Tyere Hatley. Pritchett had applied to proceed without paying filing fees and was ordered to provide financial information supporting that application. He did not provide the required document by the deadline and did not respond to the court. The opinion states that he had not communicated with the court about the case since starting it.

Recommendation and review

United States Magistrate Judge David T. Schultz issued a report and recommendation advising that the case be dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b). No objections were filed within the permitted time. Because there were no objections, the court reviewed the recommendation for clear error, meaning an obvious mistake in the recommendation or the record. The court found no clear error.

Ruling

In Pritchett v. Hatley, Judge Katherine Menendez ordered that the action be dismissed without prejudice under Rule 41(b) for failure to prosecute. A dismissal without prejudice does not bar a later refiling based solely on that dismissal. The court also ordered that judgment be entered.

The authoritative version

Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

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