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D. Minn.Procedural orderFiled Apr. 18, 2024

Smith v. City of Duluth

Judge
Jeffrey Bryan
Docket
0:23-cv-02196
Court
U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
Pages
2
Civil RightsSection 1983Civil Procedure
In one sentence

In Smith v. City of Duluth, Judge Bryan dismissed Smith’s civil-rights case without prejudice for failure to prosecute.

Who this affects

Eric Smith’s federal civil-rights lawsuit against the City of Duluth and the other defendants was dismissed without prejudice.

What happened

Eric Smith sued the City of Duluth and other defendants under a federal civil-rights law. A magistrate judge recommended dismissing the complaint because Smith failed to prosecute the case, and Smith did not object.

Because no timely objections were filed, the court reviewed the recommendation for clear error. The court found no clear error.

Judge Bryan adopted the recommendation and dismissed the matter 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
Smith v. City of Duluth · No. 0:23-cv-02196
Judge
Jeffrey M. Bryan
Date
Apr. 18, 2024

Background

Eric Smith filed a complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the City of Duluth and other defendants. United States Magistrate Judge Leo I. Brisbois issued a Report and Recommendation on February 21, 2024, recommending dismissal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) because Smith failed to prosecute the case. Smith did not file objections, and the deadline for doing so had passed.

Court’s Review

Because Smith filed no timely objections, the court reviewed the Report and Recommendation for clear error under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72(b). The court stated that it considered the files, records, and proceedings and found no clear error.

Ruling

Judge Jeffrey M. Bryan adopted the Report and Recommendation. The court dismissed the matter without prejudice under Rule 41(b) for failure to prosecute and directed that judgment be entered. The opinion does not explain the specific conduct underlying the finding that Smith failed to prosecute.

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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