Watson v. New York City
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-03005
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Watson v. New York City, Judge Swain ordered the pro se plaintiffs to sign their complaint within 30 days or face dismissal.
Plaintiffs Watson, Antrobus, Sebro, Johnson, Grim, Baptiste, and Thomas, who must submit original signatures on the complaint’s signature page within 30 days or face dismissal of their claims.
What happened
In Watson v. New York City, seven plaintiffs filed a complaint without the signatures required for people representing themselves. The court explained that each unrepresented party must personally sign a pleading.
The court ordered Watson, Antrobus, Sebro, Johnson, Grim, Baptiste, and Thomas to submit the complaint’s signature page with their original signatures within 30 days. No summons will issue for now.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain said the case will proceed through the Clerk’s Office if the plaintiffs comply, but any plaintiff who does not comply may have their claims dismissed. She also denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Watson v. New York City · No. 1:25-cv-03005
- Laura Swain
- May 6, 2025
Background
Plaintiffs Watson, Antrobus, Sebro, Johnson, Grim, Baptiste, and Thomas brought the action without lawyers. They submitted the complaint without their original signatures.
Order
The court relied on Rule 11(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which requires a pleading to be signed by an attorney or, when a party is unrepresented, by that party personally. The court directed each of the named plaintiffs to submit the complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days of the order. A copy of the signature page was attached to the order.
No summons shall issue at this time. If the plaintiffs comply, the case shall be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If any plaintiff fails to comply within the permitted time, that plaintiff’s claims will be dismissed.
Appeal and Filing Warnings
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The attached form also states that each plaintiff must sign and date the complaint and must submit an application to proceed without prepaying fees if seeking that status. It includes warnings about possible future limits on fee-free filings after qualifying prisoner cases are dismissed, the need to exhaust administrative procedures for certain prison-condition claims, and the obligation to keep the Clerk’s Office informed of address changes.
Disposition
Judge Laura Taylor Swain issued an order directing the plaintiffs to provide original signatures within 30 days, withheld issuance of summonses for the time being, and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The order states that a noncomplying plaintiff’s claims will be dismissed.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.