Williams v. Adams

Dist. Ct. erred in dismissing plaintiff-prisoner's 1983 action alleging that defendants used excessive force during his arrest where said dismissal was imposed as sanction for plaintiff's failure to pay defendants $9,055.14 in court-ordered legal fees that were generated when plaintiff's counsel failed to file timely final pretrial order. Plaintiff's inability to pay said sanction did not support Dist. Ct.'s finding that said failure was "contumacious," and instant dismissal was too severe of sanction where: (1) defendants had previously offered to settle underlying claim for more than instant fee award; (2) plaintiff's counsel paid sanction during pendency of instant appeal after plaintiff had filed ARDC complaint against counsel; and (3) plaintiff was personally blameless for failing to file timely pretrial order.