Ganan Ramirez v. United States
- Paul Engelmayer
- 1:20-cv-04009
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Ganan Ramirez v. United States, Judge Pauley ordered a pro se movant to resubmit an unsigned motion challenging his sentence with an original signature.
Carlos Alberto Ganan Ramirez, whose unsigned motion must be resubmitted with an original signature within 30 days.
What happened
Carlos Alberto Ganan Ramirez filed a motion challenging his federal sentence without a signature. The order identifies him as representing himself.
The court directed Ramirez to send the motion’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days. The order did not decide the claims in his motion.
Judge William H. Pauley III issued the order because court rules require an unrepresented party to personally sign written filings.
The detailed version
- Ganan Ramirez v. United States · No. 1:20-cv-04009
- Paul Engelmayer
- July 16, 2020
Background
Carlos Alberto Ganan Ramirez brought the matter while representing himself. The filing includes a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, a procedure for a person in federal custody to ask the sentencing court to vacate, set aside, or correct a sentence. The motion was submitted without a signature.
Court’s reasoning
The court cited Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 and Local Civil Rule 11.1(a), which require written motions and other papers to be signed by an attorney or, when a party has no lawyer, by that party personally. The court also cited a Supreme Court decision explaining that the rule requires a handwritten name or a mark placed by hand.
Ruling and effect
The court ordered Ramirez to resubmit the motion’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days of the order’s date. A copy of the signature page was attached. The order did not rule on the merits of Ramirez’s motion to challenge his sentence.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.