Garrison v. U. S. Department of Justice

• Court: District Court, N.D. California
• Decided: August 22, 2023
• Docket: 3:23-cv-01834
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 STEVE GARRISON, Case No. 23-cv-01834-JSC

8 Plaintiff, ORDER STRIKING COMPLAINT IN 9 v. PART AND GRANTING MOTION FOR VOLUNTARY DISMISSAL 10 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Re: Dkt. Nos. 8-10 Defendant. 11

12 Plaintiff Steve Garrison (“Plaintiff”), a California prisoner proceeding without an attorney, 13 filed this civil rights action against President Joe Biden, the United States Department of Justice, 14 and Damian Williams. (ECF No. 1.) Plaintiff has filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss this case. 15 (ECF No. 10.) A plaintiff has the absolute right to dismiss his or her action by filing a notice of 16 dismissal "at any time before service by the adverse party of an answer or of a motion for 17 summary judgment." Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(i). Said dismissal may be with or without prejudice, 18 but unless plaintiff's notice of dismissal states otherwise, it is deemed to be "without prejudice." 19 See Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1). A plaintiff's "absolute right" to dismiss his action voluntarily before 20 the defendants serve an answer or a motion for summary judgment leaves no role for the court to 21 play. See American Soccer Co. v. Score First Enters., 187 F.3d 1108, 1110 (9th Cir. 1999). A 22 district court may not vacate a voluntary dismissal under Rule 41(a)(1)(i) and reach the merits of 23 the case. See id. at 1112. Defendants have not been served, and therefore Plaintiff has the 24 absolute right to voluntarily dismiss this case. 25 Plaintiff adds Sam Bankman-Fried, the “Bankman-Fried Family,” and Stanford University 26 Hospitals, to the Complaint as additional Plaintiffs. (ECF No. 1.) They have not signed the 27 Complaint, however, as required by Rule 11(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, nor have ] is not an attorney and as such he may not represent these other plaintiffs, nor may he be a class 2 || representative in a class action. See Russell v. United States, 308 F.2d 78, 79 (9th Cir. 1962) ("a 3 litigant appearing in propria persona [1.e. without an attorney] has no authority to represent anyone 4 || other than himself”); Oxendine v. Williams, 509 F.2d 1405, 1407 (4th Cir. 1975) (prisoner 5 || plaintiffs without an attorney are not adequate class representatives able to fairly represent and 6 || adequately protect the interests of a class). Accordingly, the Complaint is STRICKEN to the 7 || extent it lists Plaintiffs who have not signed it, i.e. all Plaintiffs other than Steven Garrison. Cf 8 || Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(a) (a court must strike any unsigned pleading). 9 Plaintiff states he wants attorney’s fees at the rate of 20 cents per hour or 40 million dollars 10 || total. (ECF No. 8.) Plaintiff is not entitled to attorney’s fees because he is not a “prevailing” 11 party. See 28 U.S.C. § 1988 (attorney’s fees are only available to “prevailing party” in case under 28 U.S.C. § 1983); Sole v. Wyner, 551 U.S. 74, 82 (2007). E 13 Under Rule 41(a)(1), the motion for voluntary dismissal is GRANTED, and the case is 14 || DISMISSED without prejudice. In light of this ruling, Plaintiff's motions to amend and to hold 3 15 Santa Clara County liable are DENIED as moot. (ECF Nos. 9-10.) 16 The Clerk shall enter judgment and close the file. This order resolves docket numbers 8- 5 17 10.

Z 18 IT IS SO ORDERED. 19 || Dated: August 22, 2023 20 21 Pegi at □□ JAQQUELINE SCOTT CORL 22 United States District Judge 23 24 25 26 27 28