Williams v. Moore

Background

Dale A. Williams, Sr. sued Nancy Moore, Sarah Kulas, Samantha J. Suhonen, Scott Johnson, and James Berg in their individual and official capacities, asserting claims related to his incarceration. Williams filed an amended complaint on September 23, 2022.

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m) generally requires proof of service within 90 days after a complaint is filed. More than 90 days after Williams filed his amended complaint, he had not provided proof that any defendant had been served. On May 24, 2023, the court ordered him to provide proof of service within 30 days to avoid dismissal.

Williams later filed certificates of service. Those certificates stated that the Sheriff’s Office delivered waiver-of-service forms and the amended complaint to the defendants, but the defendants did not complete the forms. Williams also did not provide the required summonses.

Objections and Analysis

A magistrate judge recommended dismissal without prejudice because Williams had not properly completed service despite court orders and had failed to prosecute the case. Williams filed a letter that the court treated as an objection, and he later filed another objection.

The court found that the later objection was untimely and would not be considered. In his timely objection, Williams did not identify specific portions of the recommendation that he challenged and repeated arguments previously presented to the magistrate judge. The court therefore reviewed the relevant portions for clear error. It found no valid proof of service complying with Rule 4 and concluded that unsigned waiver forms were insufficient. It also agreed that Williams had failed to prosecute the case.

Disposition

Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright overruled Williams’s objections, adopted the November 15, 2023 report and recommendation, and dismissed Williams’s complaint without prejudice for failure to effect proper service on the defendants and failure to prosecute.