a district court has the power to dismiss an action for the plaintiff's failure to comply with any court order
How later courts described this case
- a district court has the power to dismiss an action for the plaintiff's failure to comply with any court order
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
EASTERN DIVISION
PRINCE MISTER RA ESSENCE EL,! )
Plaintiff,
Vv. )
) No. 4:25-cv-001750-SEP
ELLEN SUE LEVY, )
Defendant.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
This matter is before the Court on review of the file. On January 14, 2026, the Court
ordered Plaintiff to (1) file an amended complaint on a Court-provided form and (2) either pay
the filing fee or file a motion to proceed without prepayment of fees or costs. Doc. [8]. The
Court warned Plaintiff that failure to comply with the Order would result in dismissal of the
matter without prejudice. /d. More than three months later, Plaintiff has not complied with the
Order. The Court will dismiss this action due to Plaintiff's failure to comply with the Court’s
Order. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b); Dudley v. Miles, 597 F. App’x 392 (8th Cir. 2015) (per curiam)
(affirming dismissal without prejudice where self-represented plaintiff failed to file an amended
complaint despite being cautioned that dismissal could result from failure to do so); Brown v.
Frey, 806 F.2d 801, 803 (8th Cir. 1986) (a district court has the power to dismiss an action for
the plaintiff's failure to comply with any court order).
Accordingly,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this action is DISMISSED without prejudice. A
separate Order of Dismissal will issue herewith.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that an appeal of this Order would not be taken in good
faith.
Dated this 1st day of May, 2026.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
' Plaintiffs real name is Edison C. Hester.