Joseph v. Westchester County Department of Community Mental Health
- Nelson Roman
- 7:20-cv-00420
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Joseph v. Westchester County Department of Community Mental Health, Judge McMahon ordered the pro se plaintiff to submit an original signature within 30 days.
Thomas T. Joseph, who must provide an original signature for his complaint to proceed.
What happened
Thomas T. Joseph sued the Westchester County Department of Community Mental Health and others, but he submitted his complaint without a signature. The court explained that an unrepresented party must personally sign a complaint.
The court ordered Joseph to send the complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days. The clerk must mail him the order, and no summons will issue for now.
Judge Colleen McMahon said the case will be processed if Joseph complies, but the action will be dismissed if he does not. She also denied him permission to appeal without paying filing fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Joseph v. Westchester County Department of Community Mental Health · No. 7:20-cv-00420
- Nelson Roman
- Jan. 17, 2020
Background
Thomas T. Joseph brought this action without a lawyer. He submitted a complaint that did not contain his signature.
Court’s analysis
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) requires every pleading, written motion, and other paper to be signed by an attorney or, when a party is unrepresented, by that party personally. The court stated that the rule requires a handwritten signature or a mark placed by hand.
Order
The court directed Joseph to resubmit the complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days of the order. The clerk was directed to mail him a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time. The order states that the case would be processed under the clerk’s procedures if Joseph complied, and that the action would be dismissed if he failed to comply within the allowed time.
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 appeal without paying filing fees.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.