Ross v. Seattle WA
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-01383
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Ross v. Seattle WA, Judge Swain ordered pro se plaintiff Darnell Ross to sign his complaint and pay fees or request permission to proceed without them.
Darnell Ross, whom the court treated as the sole plaintiff, and the other named individuals whose claims Ross could not assert on their behalf.
What happened
In Ross v. Seattle WA, Darnell Ross filed a complaint naming himself and five other plaintiffs. Because Ross is not alleged to be a lawyer, the court said he could not assert claims for the other people and would consider him the sole plaintiff.
The court said Ross had to submit an original signature on the complaint and either pay $402 in filing fees or submit an application to proceed without paying fees in advance. He had 30 days from the order. The court said no summons would issue yet, and the case would be dismissed if he did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to appeal without paying fees, finding that an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The Clerk was directed to mail Ross a copy of the order and record service.
The detailed version
- Ross v. Seattle WA · No. 1:22-cv-01383
- Laura Swain
- Feb. 24, 2022
Background
Darnell Ross filed this action without a lawyer and appeared to assert claims for himself and for Kawana Powell, Dominique Palmore, Keisha Patterson, Teresa Patterson, and Rose Marie Davis. The court held that Ross could not represent the other named plaintiffs because he was not alleged to be an attorney. The court therefore treated Ross as the sole plaintiff in the action.
Ross submitted the complaint without a signature and without paying the required fees or submitting an application to proceed without prepaying them. The court explained that the required fees totaled $402: a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) requires an unrepresented party to personally sign a pleading, and the court said the signature must be an original handwritten signature or mark.
Order
Within 30 days of the order, Ross was required to resubmit the complaint's signature page with an original signature and either pay the $402 in fees or submit the attached application to proceed without prepayment of fees. If the court granted that application, Ross would be allowed to proceed without paying the fees in advance. The submissions were to include docket number 22-CV-1383 (LTS).
No summons was to issue at that time. The court stated that, if Ross complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk's Office procedures; if he did not comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed. The court also certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees. The Clerk was directed to mail Ross the order and note service on the docket.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.