Madison v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:20-cv-11137
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Madison v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Chief Judge McMahon ordered Malcolm Madison to sign his complaint and update his fee-waiver application within 30 days.
Malcolm Madison, who was required to correct his unsigned complaint and incomplete fee-waiver application or face dismissal without prejudice.
What happened
In Madison v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Malcolm Madison submitted a complaint without signing it. He also submitted an incomplete application to proceed without paying the court’s fees.
The court ordered Madison to sign and resubmit the complaint and to submit a completed and signed fee-waiver application within 30 days. Instead, he could pay the required $402 in fees. No summons would issue at that time.
Chief Judge Colleen McMahon said the case would be processed if Madison complied and would be dismissed without prejudice if he did not. The court also denied fee-waiver status for any appeal from the order.
The detailed version
- Madison v. Metropolitan Transportation Authority · No. 1:20-cv-11137
- Colleen McMahon
- Jan. 5, 2021
Background
Malcolm Madison, who was representing himself, submitted a complaint 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 papers filed with the court. The court also noted that Madison’s application to proceed without paying court fees was incomplete because he had not answered all of its questions.
Order
The court directed Madison to sign the complaint’s signature page and return it within 30 days. It also directed him to submit a fully completed and signed amended application to proceed without paying fees within the same period. Alternatively, he could pay $402, consisting of a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee.
The court stated that no summons would issue at that time. If Madison complied, the clerk’s office would process the case under its usual procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed without prejudice. The court also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for an appeal. 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.