Dzik v. Johnson

• Court: District Court, D. Nevada
• Decided: July 27, 2023
• Docket: 2:22-cv-01982
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

4 DISTRICT OF NEVADA

5 MITCHELL HOWARD DZIK, Case No. 2:22-cv-01982-GMN-EJY

6 Plaintiff, ORDER

7 v. (ECF Nos. 1-2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12, 13)

8 WARDEN JOHNSON, et al.,

9 Defendants.

10 Plaintiff Mitchell Dzik brings this pro se civil-rights action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, 11 alleging that his Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated when he was incarcerated 12 at High Desert State Prison (“HDSP”) and prison staff denied him the ability to exercise. (ECF 13 No. 1-1). Dzik has filed several motions seeking an injunction requiring prison officials to provide 14 him access to the outdoor exercise yard. (ECF Nos. 1-2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 13). And he applied to proceed 15 in forma pauperis as an inmate. (ECF Nos. 10, 12). 16 According to the Nevada Department of Corrections inmate database, Dzik has been 17 paroled and is no longer incarcerated. Dzik, however, has not filed his updated address with the 18 Court. Nevada Local Rule IA 3-1 provides that a pro se party must “immediately file with the 19 court written notification of any change of mailing address, email address, telephone number, and 20 facsimile number.” The notification must be served on any opposing party or their attorney. Id. 21 And “[f]ailure to comply with this rule might result in the dismissal of the action, entry of default 22 judgment, or other sanctions as deemed appropriate by the court.” Id. 23 The Court grants Dzik an extension of time to file his updated address with the Clerk of 24 the Court. Because Dzik is no longer incarcerated, the Court denies his application to proceed in 25 forma pauperis by an inmate as moot, and grants him an extension to file an application to proceed 26 in forma pauperis by a non-inmate. Finally, the Court denies Dzik’s injunctive-relief motions as 27 moot because he is no longer incarcerated and has not demonstrated that (1) the duration of the 28 exercise condition is too short to be fully litigated before it ceases and (2) there is a reasonable 2 (holding that a claim for injunctive relief was moot after the prisoner had been returned to a 3 medium security prison and would be eligible for parole within days of decision); Johnson v. 4 Moore, 948 F.2d 517, 519–22 (9th Cir. 1991) (holding that a claim for injunctive relief related to 5 a prison’s policies is moot where a prisoner has been transferred to another facility and shows no 6 reasonable expectation of return); see also Murphy v. Hunt, 455 U.S. 478, 482 (1982) (explaining 7 that exception to mootness when case is capable of repetition yet evading review is limited to 8 exceptional circumstances where there is a reasonable expectation that the same complaining party 9 would be subject to the same action again); Reimers v. State of Or., 863 F.2d 630, 632 (9th Cir. 10 1988) (explaining that “[c]ourts are reluctant to invoke [the exception to mootness] when the 11 possibility of recurrence for the [litigant] depends upon his own wrongdoing”). 12 For the foregoing reasons, it is ordered that Plaintiff will file his updated address with the 13 Court by August 25, 2023. 14 It is further ordered that the application to proceed in forma pauperis by an inmate (ECF 15 No. 12) is DENIED. 16 It is further ordered that on or before August 25, 2023, Plaintiff will either (1) file a fully 17 complete application to proceed in forma pauperis for non-inmates or (2) pay the full $402 filing 18 fee for this action. 19 It is further ordered that the motions for injunctive relief (ECF Nos. 4, 5, 6, 9, 13) are 20 DENIED as moot. 21 It is further ordered that if Plaintiff fails to timely comply with this order, this action will 22 be subject to dismissal without prejudice. 23 It is further ordered that the Clerk of the Court will send Plaintiff Mitchell Dzik the 24 approved form application to proceed in forma pauperis for non-inmates and the document titled 25 information and instructions for filing an in forma pauperis application. 26 DATED: July 27, 2023

27 ________________________________ GLORIA M. NAVARRO 28 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE