Brown v. NYCDOC MDC
- Edgardo Ramos
- 1:20-cv-02144
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Brown v. NYCDOC MDC, Chief Judge McMahon ordered original signatures and warned the case could be dismissed if Brown did not respond.
Shamone Brown, an incarcerated plaintiff representing himself, must submit original signatures on the fee application and prisoner authorization within 30 days or the action will be dismissed. The defendants were not subjected to a merits ruling, and no summons issued at this stage.
What happened
In Brown v. NYCDOC MDC, Shamone Brown, who was incarcerated and representing himself, submitted an application to proceed without paying court fees upfront and a prisoner authorization, but neither document had an original signature.
The court directed Brown to resubmit both signature pages with original signatures within 30 days. The court also said it would not issue a summons yet and would process the case if Brown complied.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon warned that the action would be dismissed if Brown did not comply within the deadline. She also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Brown v. NYCDOC MDC · No. 1:20-cv-02144
- Edgardo Ramos
- Mar. 16, 2020
Background
Shamone Brown brought this action while incarcerated and without a lawyer. The opinion identifies the defendants as Warden NYCDOC MDC, Correctional Officers John Doe 1 and 2, and the City of New York. Brown submitted an application to proceed in forma pauperis (without prepaying court fees) and a prisoner authorization, but both documents lacked signatures.
Legal standard
The court relied on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) and Local Civil Rule 11.1(a), which require an unrepresented party to personally sign pleadings and other papers. The court explained that the required signature must be handwritten or a handplaced mark.
Ruling
The court ordered Brown to resubmit the signature pages for the fee application and prisoner authorization with original signatures within 30 days of the order. It directed the Clerk of Court to mail the order to Brown and record service on the docket. The court stated that no summons would issue at that time. If Brown complied, the Clerk's Office would process the case; if Brown failed to comply within the deadline, 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 appeal without prepaying fees. The order did not decide the underlying claims against the defendants.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.