Eighth Circuit Finds Dismissal Was Abuse of Discretion Where Plaintiff's Failure to Comply with Order Was Not Deliberate

Per Holly v. Anderson, 467 F.3d 1120 (8th Cir. Nov 2, 2006):

A district court may sua sponte dismiss an action under Rule 41(b) for the plaintiff's deliberate failure to comply with a court order. See Hutchins v. A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc., 116 F.3d 1256, 1259-60 (8th Cir.1997); Brown v. Frey, 806 F.2d 801, 803 (8th Cir.1986). We conclude that the district court abused its discretion in dismissing this action, see Rodgers v. Curators of Univ. of Mo., 135 F.3d 1216, 1219 (8th Cir.1998) (standard of review), because the record does not show that Holly deliberately failed to comply with the June 28 order to submit extra copies of his complaint. Holly may have effectively responded to the order in his July 27 filing by informing the court that he no longer had his legal materials. Moreover, it is not clear whether Holly even retained a copy of his complaint (or his attempted amended complaint) after he filed it, because after dismissal, he requested from the district court a copy of his complaint so that he could amend it as directed.

Finally, Holly was in state custody and was indigent: the record reflects that he had only $2.87 in his state account at the time he was granted IFP status. Thus it is likely that he did not have the means to make additional copies of his complaint. In these circumstances, we conclude that dismissing Holly's case--even without prejudice--for failure to provide copies of his complaint was unduly harsh and was contrary to the spirit of the IFP statute under which Holly was proceeding, because the district court should not require a person who has been granted IFP status to prepare copies of the complaint for service. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d) (when plaintiff is proceeding IFP, court officers issue and serve all process and perform all duties).Accordingly, we reverse, and we remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion