Opinion
CASE NO. 19-60601-CIV-ALTMAN/Reid
05-24-2019
VINCENT KEITH ROZIER, Plaintiff, v. LT. SHAWN ENSER, et al., Defendants.
cc: Plaintiff, Vincent Keith Rozier, pro se
ORDER
On March 6, 2019, pro se Plaintiff, Vincent Keith Rozier, filed a one-page letter that purports to double as a complaint ("the Purported Complaint") [ECF No. 1]. The Purported Complaint avers that Broward Sheriff's Office employees failed to keep the Plaintiff safe from a "deadly projectile" thrown at him by two fellow inmates. Id. Pursuant to Administrative Order 2019-2, the Clerk referred the case to United States Magistrate Judge Lisette M. Reid for a ruling on all pre-trial, non-dispositive matters and for a report and recommendation on any dispositive matters [ECF No. 2].
Judge Reid issued an order on March 8, 2019, giving the Plaintiff 30 days to file an amended complaint on the Court-approved civil rights form. [ECF No. 5]. Judge Reid's order further required the Plaintiff to file a complaint, and not a letter, that properly stated a prayer for a relief, alleged sufficient facts, and explained precisely the ways in which the Defendants are supposed to have violated the Plaintiff's constitutional rights [Id.]. The Plaintiff neither filed an amended complaint nor made the initial payment of $62.00 to proceed in forma pauperis.
On May 6, 2019, Judge Reid issued a Report and Recommendation ("R&R"), recommending that the Plaintiff's Complaint be dismissed without prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) for lack of prosecution and for failure to comply with court orders [ECF No. 9]. To date, no objections to that R&R have been filed.
Upon de novo review of the Report and the record, the Court agrees that dismissal is warranted. A district court may dismiss a complaint sua sponte either under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) or based on the inherent power of the court to manage its own docket. Taylor v. Nelson, 356 F. App'x 318, 319 (11th Cir. 2009). Moreover, in this case, Judge Reid provided the Plaintiff with ample opportunity to amend his pleading. Duong Thanh Ho v. Costello, 757 F. App'x 912, 915 (11th Cir. 2018) (finding no abuse of discretion where district court sua sponte dismissed, without prejudice, prisoner's pro se § 1983 complaint for failure to comply with court order to file amended complaint and for failure to prosecute case).
When a magistrate judge's "disposition" has been objected to, district courts must review the disposition de novo. FED. R. CIV. P. 72(b)(3). But when, as here, no party has timely objected, "the court need only satisfy itself that there is no clear error on the face of the record in order to accept the recommendation." FED. R. CIV. P. 72 advisory committee's notes (citation omitted). Although Rule 72 is silent on the applicable standard of review when neither party has objected to the magistrate judge's report and recommendation, the Supreme Court has acknowledged that Congress' intent was to require de novo review only where objections have been properly filed—and not when neither party objects. See Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140, 150 (1985) ("It does not appear that Congress intended to require district court review of a magistrate [judge]'s factual or legal conclusions, under a de novo or any other standard, when neither party objects to those findings."). In any event, the Eleventh Circuit has been clear that "[f]ailure to object to the magistrate [judge]'s factual findings after notice precludes a later attack on these findings." Lewis v. Smith, 855 F.2d 736, 738 (11th Cir. 1988) (citing Nettles v. Wainwright, 677 F.2d 404, 410 (5th Cir. 1982)).
The undersigned has reviewed the Report, the record, and the applicable law and can find no clear error in the Report.
Accordingly, the Court hereby ORDERS that the Report and Recommendation [ECF No. 9] is ACCEPTED AND ADOPTED. The Plaintiff, Vincent Keith Rozier's, purported Complaint [ECF No. 1] is DISMISSED without prejudice. The Clerk of the Court is instructed to CLOSE the case, and any pending motions are DENIED as moot.
DONE AND ORDERED in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, this 24th day of May 2019.
/s/ _________
ROY K. ALTMAN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE cc: Plaintiff, Vincent Keith Rozier, pro se