Cordero v. Police Department
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-05605
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Cordero v. Police Department, Judge Swain ordered pro se plaintiff Elizabeth Sanchez Cordero to sign her application or face dismissal without prejudice.
Elizabeth Sanchez Cordero, who is representing herself; the order concerns her unsigned fee-waiver application and the continuation of her action against Police Department, Human Resources Division.
What happened
In Elizabeth Sanchez Cordero v. Police Department, Human Resources Division, Cordero brought the action without a lawyer and submitted an application to proceed without paying the filing fee. Judge Swain found that the application was unsigned.
The court ordered Cordero to sign and submit the attached certification and warnings within 30 days. The court stated that no summons or answer would issue yet. If Cordero does not comply, the action will be dismissed without prejudice. If she complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied Cordero permission to proceed without paying the appeal fee. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Cordero v. Police Department · No. 1:25-cv-05605
- Laura Swain
- July 14, 2025
Background
Elizabeth Sanchez Cordero filed the action without a lawyer. She submitted an application to proceed without paying the filing fee, but the court determined that the application was unsigned.
Court’s order
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) requires an unrepresented party to personally sign a pleading, motion, or other court filing. The court directed Cordero to sign and submit the attached “Plaintiff’s Certification and Warnings” within 30 days of the order.
The court stated that no summons or answer would issue at that time. If Cordero complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case under its procedures. If she does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed without prejudice, meaning the order does not bar refiling on that basis.
Appeal and effect
The court certified that an appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying the filing fee for an appeal. The order addressed the missing signature and filing-fee procedure; it did not decide the merits of Cordero’s claims against Police Department, Human Resources Division.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.