Johnson v. Vance
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-05093
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Johnson v. Vance, Judge Swain ordered unrepresented plaintiff Desiree Johnson to sign her complaint within 30 days or face dismissal without prejudice.
Desiree Johnson and the further processing of her case; no summons or answer will issue unless she complies with the signature requirement.
What happened
In Johnson v. Vance, Desiree Johnson brought the case without a lawyer, but the complaint she submitted did not contain her signature.
The court ordered Johnson to sign and return the provided signature page within 30 days of the order. The court said that no summons or answer would issue for now, and that the case would proceed through the Clerk’s Office if she complied.
If Johnson does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed without prejudice. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied fee-free status for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Johnson v. Vance · No. 1:25-cv-05093
- Laura Swain
- June 25, 2025
Background
Desiree Johnson filed this action without a lawyer. The complaint was unsigned. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) requires an unrepresented party to personally sign a pleading, written motion, or other paper.
Order
The court directed Johnson to sign and submit the attached signature page within 30 days of the order. The court did not issue a summons or require an answer at that time. If Johnson complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures.
Conditional dismissal
The court stated that if Johnson fails to comply within the permitted time, the action will be dismissed without prejudice. The order therefore did not dismiss the action immediately; it set a signature requirement and specified the consequence of failing to meet it.
Appeal
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 fee-free status for purposes of an appeal.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.