Dan v. D. Ray James Correctional Institution, 5:15-cv-00093

Petitioner Daniel Dan, an inmate at D. Ray James Correctional Institute, filed a habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 and an application to proceed in forma pauperis on November 16, 2015.
The Court deferred ruling on the IFP motion and ordered Petitioner (Dec. 17, 2015) to file his prison trust fund account statement and an affidavit of assets by December 28, 2015.
The Court mailed the Order to Petitioner’s last known address; Petitioner did not comply or otherwise respond within the time allowed.
Nearly five months passed with no further filings or communications from Petitioner, and no filing fee or trust account information was provided.
The magistrate judge concluded Petitioner failed to prosecute and disobeyed a court order, and recommended dismissal without prejudice and denial of leave to appeal in forma pauperis.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether case should be dismissed for failure to prosecute/follow court order	Dan did not present any response or justification for noncompliance	Court sought dismissal due to noncompliance and lack of prosecution	Dismissal without prejudice is recommended for failure to prosecute and to follow court order
Whether plaintiff’s IFP motion should be granted absent required trust account/affidavit	Dan sought IFP status but did not supply mandated financial forms	Court argued it cannot assess IFP eligibility without required forms or collect fees	IFP motion denied for failure to supply prison account statement and affidavit
Whether leave to appeal IFP should be granted	No appeal filed; no showing of nonfrivolous grounds	Court evaluated appeal-good-faith standard and found no nonfrivolous issues	Leave to appeal in forma pauperis should be denied (appeal not taken in good faith)
Appropriate sanction level for noncompliance	No arguments advanced to avoid sanctions	Court weighed dismissal standards and found lesser sanctions inadequate given five months of inaction	Dismissal without prejudice and closure of the case recommended

Link v. Wabash R.R. Co., 370 U.S. 626 (trial court may dismiss for failure to prosecute even without prior notice)
Morewitz v. West of Eng. Ship Owners Mut. Prot. & Indem. Ass'n (Lux.), 62 F.3d 1356 (dismissal with prejudice for failure to prosecute is an extreme sanction requiring clear record of delay and finding lesser sanctions inadequate)
Kilgo v. Ricks, 983 F.2d 189 (11th Cir. 1993) (discussing dismissal for failure to prosecute)
Brown v. Tallahassee Police Dep't, [citation="205 F. App'x 802"] (affirming dismissal to enforce docket control and court orders)
Coppedge v. United States, 369 U.S. 438 (good-faith standard for in forma pauperis appeals)
Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319 (defining frivolous claims for IFP screening)
Napier v. Preslicka, 314 F.3d 528 (IFP action frivolous if without arguable merit in law or fact)