Grace v. Alvarado
- Cathy Seibel
- 7:21-cv-03578
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Grace v. Alvarado, Judge Swain ordered pro se plaintiff Angelo Grace to sign his complaint within 30 days or face dismissal without prejudice.
Angelo Grace, whose unsigned complaint must be signed and returned within 30 days to avoid dismissal without prejudice; the case will not proceed to summons issuance unless he complies.
What happened
Grace v. Alvarado concerns a complaint that Angelo Grace filed without a handwritten signature. Grace was representing himself, and the court explained that federal and local rules require an unrepresented party to sign court papers.
The court ordered Grace to sign and return the attached declaration within 30 days. No summons would issue at that time; if he complied, the case would proceed through the Clerk’s Office, but if he did not, the action would be dismissed without prejudice.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain also directed the Clerk to mail the order to Grace and stated that an appeal would not be considered to have been filed in good faith, so Grace could not appeal without paying the filing fee.
The detailed version
- Grace v. Alvarado · No. 7:21-cv-03578
- Cathy Seibel
- Apr. 23, 2021
Background
Angelo Grace, proceeding without a lawyer, filed this action against Sgt. Alexander Alvarado and other defendants. The complaint did not contain Grace’s signature.
Reason for the Order
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) and Local Civil Rule 11.1(a) require an unrepresented party to sign pleadings and other papers personally. The court cited the Supreme Court’s explanation that the signature must be handwritten or a mark placed by hand.
Order
The court directed Grace to sign the attached declaration for signature and return it within 30 days of the order. The Clerk was directed to mail Grace a copy of the order and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time.
If Grace complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed without prejudice. 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 the filing fee.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.