Benitez-Garcia v. Gonzalez-Vera

LYNCH, Circuit Judge.

By order dated November 16, 2005, the district court dismissed plaintiffs’ civil rights action as a sanction for violations of three deadlines set in an oral Initial Scheduling Conference (ISC) discovery order. The order of dismissal was entered despite the fact that under the district court’s local rules, plaintiffs had at least until November 18, 2005 to respond to the defendants’ motion requesting this drastic sanction. The court then did not accept plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration in this very active case, as it denied plaintiffs permission to file a motion that…