Summary
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas adopts a magistrate judge’s Report and Recommendation recommending dismissal without prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The court notes that the plaintiff failed to pay the filing fee or submit an in forma pauperis application, failed to file an amended complaint establishing jurisdiction, did not update his address, and filed no objections.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the magistrate judge's recommendation to dismiss the action without prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction should be adopted.
- What standard of review applies when no objections are filed to a magistrate judge's Report and Recommendation.
Holdings
- When no objections are filed, the district court need not conduct de novo review of the magistrate judge's findings, conclusions, and recommendations, and reviews the recommendation under the applicable clearly erroneous, abuse-of-discretion, and contrary-to-law standard.
- The action was properly dismissed without prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction after Plaintiff failed to comply with the court's order to establish jurisdiction and failed to otherwise prosecute the case.
Key quotations
“where no objections to a magistrate judge’s report are filed, the standard of review is “clearly erroneous, abuse of discretion and contrary to law”” (at 2)
Factual background
Plaintiff filed the action but did not pay the full filing fee or submit the required application to proceed without prepaying fees and costs. He also failed to file an amended complaint clearly establishing subject matter jurisdiction, despite being ordered to do so. Court mailings were returned as undeliverable, and Plaintiff did not provide an updated address or otherwise contact the court.
Procedural history
Plaintiff filed the action on January 9, 2026. The court ordered Plaintiff to pay the filing fee or submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees and to file an amended complaint establishing subject matter jurisdiction. The order and the later Report and Recommendation were returned as undeliverable, Plaintiff did not update his address or otherwise contact the court, and no objections were filed. The district court adopted the magistrate judge's recommendation and dismissed the case without prejudice.