Opinion
NO. CIV. S-12-2442 LKK/CKD
05-03-2013
YVONNE GAGE individually, Minors I.M. and A.M. by and through their Guardian Ad Litem, YVONNE GAGE and BRENDA MORTON, individually, Plaintiffs, v. STATE OF CALIFORNIA, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION, WARDEN MIKE McDONALD, and Does 1-40, Defendants.
ORDER
Plaintiffs filed their complaint on September 25, 2012. Summons issued two days later. A status conference was initially set for December 10, 2012. As plaintiffs failed to file a status report, the conference was continued to February 4, 2013. (ECF No. 5.) When plaintiffs again failed to file a status report, the court issued an order (i) directing plaintiffs to serve defendants within twenty-one days, and (ii) continuing the status conference until March 25, 2013. (ECF No. 6.) On February 28, 2013, plaintiffs filed a document which outlined their difficulties in identifying one or more defendants, and provided that "[t]he named parties will have been served and proofs of service filed by March 5, 2013." (ECF No. 7.)
As no proof of service had been filed by March 21, 2013, the court ordered plaintiffs' counsel to show cause in writing, within fourteen days, why sanctions, including a fine of $250 and dismissal of this action with prejudice, should not issue for failure to serve defendants. The court directed that the order to show cause would be vacated if plaintiffs filed appropriate proof of service within the fourteen-day deadline. Finally, the court ordered that the status conference be continued until May 20, 2013. (ECF No. 9.)
As of this date, plaintiffs' counsel has failed to respond in writing to the court's order to show cause, and no proof of service has been filed.
Accordingly, the court orders as follows:
[1] Counsel for plaintiffs, Russell Alan Robinson, is SANCTIONED in the amount of two hundred and fifty dollars ($250), payable within fourteen (14) days of entry of this order to the Clerk of the Court.
[2] This case is DISMISSED with prejudice.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
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LAWRENCE K. KARLTON
SENIOR JUDGE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT