Opinion
Case No. 2:03-CV-590 PGC
December 2, 2003
ORDER
Plaintiff, Doyle Ellis, an inmate at the Utah State Prison, has filed with the Court a pro se civil rights complaint, see 42 U.S.C.A. § 1983 (West Supp. 2003), and now moves to dismiss it without prejudice. Plaintiff asserts that "[h]e no longer feels physically or mentally competent to proceed" with this case because of terrifying conditions he faces in prison. He states, "If I can I will try to ask the courts for help later." In his motion and accompanying letter, he seems articulate in his ability to express his position and concerns.
Many of the conditions Plaintiff describes are new to this case. If Plaintiff wishes to raise them in a future federal civil rights case, he must exhaust his claims in the prison grievance process, then file a new complaint.
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1), "an action may be dismissed by the plaintiff without order of court (i) by filing a notice of dismissal at any time before service by the adverse party of an answer. . . . Unless otherwise stated in the notice of dismissal . . ., the dismissal is without prejudice." However, Plaintiff has filed a motion instead of a notice, so the Court will respond to Plaintiff under Rule 41(a)(2), which allows the Court to order dismissal of a case "at the plaintiff's instance." Fed.R.Civ.P. 41(a)(2). The Court has not yet screened the complaint and ordered an answer.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiff's motion to dismiss his § 1983 complaint without prejudice is granted.