Rashidi G. Smith v. Bronx County Supreme Court; et al.
- Laura Swain
- 1:25-cv-08907
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Rashidi G. Smith v. Bronx County Supreme Court, Judge Swain ordered Smith to file an original signature within 30 days or face dismissal.
Rashidi G. Smith and the continuation of his action, which depends on his submitting the required original signature.
What happened
In Rashidi G. Smith v. Bronx County Supreme Court, Rashidi G. Smith filed a complaint without a signature while representing himself. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 requires an unrepresented party to sign court papers personally.
The court ordered Smith to submit the complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days. No summons will issue yet; the case will proceed through the Clerk’s Office if he complies, but the action will be dismissed if he does not.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
The detailed version
- Rashidi G. Smith v. Bronx County Supreme Court; et al. · No. 1:25-cv-08907
- Laura Swain
- Oct. 29, 2025
Background
Rashidi G. Smith brought the action without a lawyer. The opinion states that Smith submitted the complaint without a signature. Rule 11(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires every pleading and other court paper to be signed by an attorney or, when a party is unrepresented, by that party personally. The court explained that this requires an original handwritten signature or a handplaced mark.
Order
The court directed Smith 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. No summons shall issue at this time. If Smith complies, the case shall be processed under the Clerk’s Office’s procedures. If Smith does not comply within the allowed period, the action will be dismissed.
Appeal-related ruling
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 proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal.
Disposition
This is an order directing correction of an unsigned complaint; it does not decide the underlying claims. The order directs Smith to provide the required signature and states that the action will be dismissed if he fails to do so.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.