Torres v. Commissioner of Social Security
- Katharine Parker
- 1:21-cv-01957
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Torres v. Commissioner of Social Security, Judge Nathan ordered a pro se plaintiff to submit an original signature within 30 days or face dismissal.
Darlene Torres, who brought the action on behalf of C.K.C., must provide an original signature for the complaint within 30 days to avoid the stated consequence of dismissal. The order also denies permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
What happened
In Torres v. Commissioner of Social Security, Darlene Torres filed the case on behalf of C.K.C. without a handwritten or otherwise original signature on the complaint. The court explained that court rules require an unrepresented party to sign a complaint personally.
The court ordered Torres to resubmit the complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days. No summons would issue yet, and the case would proceed through the Clerk’s Office if she complied. If she did not comply on time, the action would be dismissed.
Judge Alison J. Nathan also ruled that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying court fees.
The detailed version
- Torres v. Commissioner of Social Security · No. 1:21-cv-01957
- Katharine Parker
- Nov. 9, 2021
Background
Darlene Torres brought this action on behalf of C.K.C. and proceeded without a lawyer. She submitted a complaint that did not include 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 a pleading personally. The court stated that the required signature must be handwritten or another mark placed by the signer.
Order
The court directed Torres to resubmit the complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days of the order. A copy of the signature page was attached. The Clerk of Court was directed to mail the order to Torres and record service on the docket. No summons was to issue at that time.
The order stated that, if Torres complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If she failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed. The order itself did not dismiss the action immediately.
Appeal-fee ruling
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.
Disposition
The court issued an order directing an original signature; it did not reach the underlying Social Security dispute. Judge Alison J. Nathan signed the order.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.