Rodriguez-Morales v. Center for Urban Community Services
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-00800
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Rodriguez-Morales v. Center for Urban Community Services, Judge Swain ordered the self-represented plaintiff to sign the complaint within 30 days or face dismissal without prejudice.
The order directly affects Enki Rodriguez-Morales, who must sign and return the signature page within 30 days to avoid dismissal without prejudice. The defendants are not required to respond at this time.
What happened
In Rodriguez-Morales v. Center for Urban Community Services, Enki Rodriguez-Morales filed a complaint without a signature and is representing himself. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 requires an unrepresented party to sign court papers.
The court ordered Enki Rodriguez-Morales to sign and submit the provided signature page within 30 days. No summons or answer will be issued yet. If he complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case; if he does not, the action will be dismissed without prejudice. The court also denied permission to appeal without paying fees because it certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued the order on April 2, 2025. The order addresses the complaint’s missing signature and does not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Rodriguez-Morales v. Center for Urban Community Services · No. 1:25-cv-00800
- Laura Swain
- Apr. 2, 2025
Background
Enki Rodriguez-Morales brought the action without a lawyer. The submitted complaint was unsigned.
Signature requirement
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) requires every pleading, written motion, and other court paper to be signed. When a party is not represented by a lawyer, that party must personally sign the paper. The court cited this rule and a Supreme Court decision interpreting it to require a handwritten name or a handplaced mark.
Court’s order
The court directed Enki Rodriguez-Morales to sign and submit the attached signature page within 30 days of the order. No summons or answer will issue at this time. If he complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed period, the action will be dismissed without prejudice.
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order does not address the merits of the claims.
Disposition
The court issued an order directing the plaintiff to sign the complaint. The action was not dismissed in this order; dismissal without prejudice was stated as the consequence of failing to comply within the permitted time.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.