Medina v. Commissioner of Social Security
- Debra Freeman
- 1:19-cv-11422
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Medina v. Commissioner, Judge McMahon ordered a pro se plaintiff to submit an original signature within 30 days or face dismissal.
Anayis Gomez Medina, who was required to provide an original signature on the complaint within 30 days to avoid dismissal.
What happened
Anayis Gomez Medina filed this case against the Commissioner of Social Security without a lawyer, but the complaint did not contain a handwritten or personally placed signature. The court explained that federal and local rules require an unrepresented party to sign court papers.
The court ordered Medina to resubmit the complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days. The court said no summons would issue yet and that it would process the case if Medina complied; otherwise, it would dismiss the action.
Judge Colleen McMahon issued the order. She also certified 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
- Medina v. Commissioner of Social Security · No. 1:19-cv-11422
- Debra Freeman
- Dec. 19, 2019
Background
Anayis Gomez Medina brought this action without a lawyer. The complaint was submitted without a signature. The court cited Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) and Local Civil Rule 11.1(a), which require an unrepresented party to sign a pleading or other court filing personally. The court explained that the required signature must be handwritten or otherwise placed by the person, rather than merely reproduced as a copy.
Order
The court directed Medina to resubmit the complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days of the order. The Clerk of Court was directed to assign the matter to the judge’s docket, mail the order to Medina, and record service on the docket. The court ordered that no summons issue at that time.
The court stated that, if Medina complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If Medina failed to comply within the permitted time, the court would dismiss the action. The court also 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 proceed without paying filing fees for purposes of an appeal.
Disposition
The court issued an order requiring an original signature; it did not dismiss the action in this order. Chief United States District Judge Colleen McMahon signed the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.