ORDER

GLEN E. CONRAD, Chief District Judge.

Donell J. Blount, Sr., is a Virginia inmate proceeding pro se as plaintiff in the three above-referenced civil rights actions. The two 2014 cases are scheduled for jury trials in January 2016, and the 2015 case is referred to United States Magistrate Judge Pamela Meade Sargent. Judge Sargent has been engaged for some weeks in preparations for the trials and for a hearing in the 2015 case. The court is now advised, however, that Blount refuses to leave his cell at Red Onion State Prison for any purpose and has expressly declined to do so in order to talk to Judge Sargent on the telephone about pretrial matters, including issues that Blount himself had raised. The court is also advised that Blount is refusing to accept any incoming legal mail, from this court or any other. The court believes that if Blount refuses to participate in appropriate pretrial preparations and accept mailings from the court related to his cases pending in this court, the only alternative is to consider such behavior to constitute loss of interest and abandonment of those cases.

In light of these recent developments, it is hereby

ORDERED

that the above-referenced cases shall be and hereby are REFERRED to the Hon. Pamela Meade Sargent, United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Virginia, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B), to conduct an investigation into the issues surrounding Blount's refusal to leave his cell, to accept legal mail, and/or to otherwise participate in pretrial proceedings; Judge Sargent shall then submit to the court a report setting forth appropriate findings of fact, conclusions of law, and recommendations, including recommendations as to whether the two scheduled jury trials in Blount's cases should be cancelled, and whether all of his pending cases should be dismissed with prejudice for failure to prosecute.

The clerk is directed to send copies of this order to Judge Sargent, to plaintiff, and to counsel of record for defendants.