Gorrie-President v. DeAndrade
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-05358
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Gorrie-President v. DeAndrade, Judge Swain ordered a pro se plaintiff to file an original signature within 30 days or face dismissal.
Clarissa Gorrie-President, who must provide an original signature for the case to proceed; the listed defendants are also affected by the delay in issuing summonses.
What happened
In Gorrie-President v. DeAndrade, Clarissa Gorrie-President filed a complaint without a signature and is representing herself. The order states that court rules require an unrepresented party to personally sign a complaint.
The court directed Gorrie-President to send the complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days. The court also ordered that no summons be issued for now. If she complies, the case will be processed by the Clerk’s Office; if she does not, the action will be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also determined that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying filing fees for an appeal.
The detailed version
- Gorrie-President v. DeAndrade · No. 1:25-cv-05358
- Laura Swain
- July 2, 2025
Background
Clarissa Gorrie-President brought this action without a lawyer. The complaint was submitted without her signature. The defendants listed in the caption are Azarri A. DeAndrade, Ali Forney Center, Judge Amanda White, and Claritza Garcia.
Signature Requirement
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) and Local Civil Rule 11.1(a) require an unrepresented party to personally sign a pleading. The court explained that the signature must be handwritten or otherwise personally placed, rather than merely typed or electronically included.
Order
The court directed Gorrie-President to submit the complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days of the order. No summons shall issue at this time. If she complies, the case shall be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If she fails to comply within the allowed period, the action will be dismissed.
Appeal-Fee Ruling
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to proceed without paying filing fees for purposes of an appeal.
Judge
Judge Laura Taylor Swain, Chief United States District Judge, issued the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.