Opinion
CIVIL ACTION CASE NO. 12-1580
01-23-2014
JORDAN DARRELL ZANTIZ v. RONNIE SEAL, ET AL
ORDER
Before the Court is Defendants' "Motion to Dismiss for Failure to Prosecute," wherein Defendants request "dismissal with prejudice of the instant suit because the plaintiff was released from prison, has failed to keep the Court apprised of his contact information, and more than two months have passed without any indication he intends to prosecute this lawsuit." The pending motion was filed on January 3, 2014, and noticed for submission on January 22, 2014.
Rec. Doc. 128.
Id.
Since January 3, 2014, however, Plaintiff, Jordan Darrell Zantiz, has contacted the Court regarding his case, and on January 23, 2014, Plaintiff participated in a scheduling conference held with the Court's case manager. Although the district court has the authority to dismiss a plaintiff's action because of his failure to prosecute, the Fifth Circuit has cautioned that the use of this authority "must be tempered by a careful exercise of judicial discretion." A court should only dismiss a case "in the face of a clear record of delay or contumacious conduct by the plaintiff."
See Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b); Link v. Wabash R.R. Co., 370 U.S. 626, 629 (1962).
Durham v. Florida East Coast Ry., 385 F.2d 366 (5th Cir. 1967) (quoting Durgin v. Graham, 372 F.2d 130, 131 (5th Cir. 1967)).
Id.
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Given that Plaintiff was only released from prison on October 25, 2013 and that he participated in a scheduling conference on January 23, 2014, there is no "clear record of delay or contumacious conduct by the plaintiff" justifying dismissal. Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendants' Motion to Dismiss for Failure to Prosecute is DENIED.
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, this 23rd day of January, 2014.
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NANNETTE JOLIVETTE BROWN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE