Green v. Viacom CBS
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-00238
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Courtney Green v. Viacom CBS, Judge Swain ordered Green to submit an original complaint signature within 30 days or face dismissal.
Courtney Green, whose unsigned complaint must be resubmitted with an original signature for the action to proceed.
What happened
Courtney Green v. Viacom CBS concerns a complaint that Green submitted without a signature while representing themself. The case is in the Southern District of New York.
The court directed Green to resubmit the complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days. No summons will issue yet, and the case will proceed through the Clerk’s Office if Green complies.
If Green does not comply on time, the action will be dismissed. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied the ability to appeal this order without paying the filing fee, finding that such an appeal would not be taken in good faith.
The detailed version
- Green v. Viacom CBS · No. 1:22-cv-00238
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 12, 2022
Background
Courtney Green brought this action without a lawyer. The complaint was submitted without Green’s signature.
Signature requirement
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a), along with the applicable local rule, requires an unrepresented party to personally sign a pleading or other court filing. The court explained that this requirement calls for a handwritten signature or a mark placed by hand.
Order
The court directed Green to resubmit the complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days of the order. No summons will issue at this time. If Green complies, the action will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If Green does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.
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 Green the ability to appeal without paying the required filing fees.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.