Spears v. Saint Louis County et al

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI
EASTERN DIVISION
BOBBY L. SPEARS, 	)
)
Plaintiff, 	)
)
v. 	) 	No. 4:25-cv-01305-CMS
)
SAINT LOUIS COUNTY, et al., 	)
)
Defendants. 	)
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
This matter is before the Court upon review of the file. Plaintiff Bobby L. Spears
commenced this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action in August 2025, alleging civil rights violations at the
Saint Louis County Justice Center. ECF No. 1. On December 16, 2025, the Court granted
Plaintiff’s motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis and directed him to file an amended
complaint within thirty (30) days. ECF No. 6. The Court cautioned Plaintiff that his failure to
timely comply with the Order would result in the dismissal of the case without further notice.
Plaintiff’s response was due by January 15, 2026.
To date, Plaintiff has neither responded to the Court’s Order, nor sought additional time to
do so. Plaintiff was given meaningful notice of what was expected, he was cautioned that his case
would be dismissed if he failed to timely comply, and he was given ample time to comply. The
Court will therefore dismiss this action, without prejudice, due to Plaintiff’s failure to comply with
the Court’s December 16, 2025, Order and his failure to prosecute his case. See Fed. R. Civ. P.
41(b); see also Link v. Wabash R.R. Co., 370 U.S. 626, 630-31 (1962) (the authority of a court to
dismiss sua sponte for lack of prosecution is inherent power governed “by the control necessarily
vested in courts to manage their own affairs so as to achieve the orderly and expeditious disposition
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of cases”); 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 case is DISMISSED without prejudice. A separate
order of dismissal will be entered herewith.
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that an appeal from this dismissal would not be taken in
good faith.
Dated this 2nd day of February 2026.
CRISTIAN M. STEVENS
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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