Dickerson v. District of Columbia

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ____________________________________ ) KENNETH DICKERSON, et al., ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) v. ) Civil Action No. 09-2213 (PLF) ) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ) ) Defendant. ) ____________________________________) MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Defendant District of Columbia and seventeen plaintiffs filed a joint notice of voluntary dismissal [Dkt. No. 65] on November 21, 2017. As a result, only five plaintiffs remain in this case: Kenneth Dickerson, Reginald Burke, Sandra Gonzalez, Andre Roach, and Greg Thomas. Plaintiff Kenneth Dickerson is represented by counsel. The four other plaintiffs are pro se. The District of Columbia filed a motion to dismiss [Dkt. No. 63] on September 7, 2017, asking the Court to dismiss Mr. Dickerson, Mr. Burke, and Ms. Gonzalez for their failure to prosecute the case. The motion also seeks to dismiss Mr. Roach for failure to comply with Rule 25(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Mr. Roach passed away on October 12, 2016, and his mother filed a notice of death [Dkt. No. 60] on March 3, 2017, but no motion to substitute a representative of his estate has yet been filed. Mr. Dickerson filed an opposition to the District of Columbia’s motion to dismiss [Dkt. No. 64] on September 21, 2017. No other responses have been filed to date. In addition, the Court notes that although the District of Columbia has not moved to dismiss Mr. Thomas, it filed a suggestion of his death [Dkt. No. 62] on September 7, 2017, but no response or motion to substitute a representative of his estate has been filed. In light of the pending motion to dismiss and the pro se status of four of the five remaining plaintiffs, it is hereby ORDERED that a status conference is set in the above-captioned case at 9:30 a.m. on January 22, 2018, in courtroom 29 of the William B. Bryant Annex to the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse, 333 Constitution Avenue N.W. in Washington, D.C. Each remaining plaintiff who would like to remain a party to this case, or their representative, should appear at the scheduled status conference: Kenneth Dickerson; Reginald Burke; Sandra Gonzalez; Ruth Roach, or another representative of the estate of Andre Roach; and Margaret Coleman, or another representative of the estate of Greg Thomas. Anyone unable to attend the hearing, but wishing to remain in the case, should notify the Court by calling Courtroom Deputy Clerk Tanya Johnson at (202) 354-3141. The Court cautions that it may dismiss the claims of any party who fails to do so. SO ORDERED. ________/s/_______________ PAUL L. FRIEDMAN United States District Judge DATE: December 8, 2017 2