Lebron v. Capra
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:22-cv-09089
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Lebron v. Capra, Chief Judge Swain ordered a pro se petitioner to sign his petition and pay the fee or submit a completed fee-waiver application.
Hector Lebron’s habeas case was affected: he had 30 days to provide a signature and pay the $5 filing fee or submit a completed and signed fee-waiver application, or the action would be dismissed without prejudice.
What happened
In Lebron v. Capra, Hector Lebron filed a petition challenging a Bronx County conviction. The Eastern District of New York transferred the case to the Southern District of New York because the conviction was from Bronx County.
The court found that Lebron’s petition was unsigned and that his application to proceed without paying the filing fee was incomplete and unsigned. It gave him 30 days to submit an original signature and either pay the $5 filing fee or submit a completed and signed application.
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that no response was required yet. She stated that the case would be dismissed without prejudice if Lebron did not comply and denied permission to proceed without paying fees for any appeal of the order.
The detailed version
- Lebron v. Capra · No. 1:22-cv-09089
- Ronnie Abrams
- Oct. 25, 2022
Background
Hector Lebron, also identified in the caption as Hector Navarro Lebron, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus while proceeding without a lawyer. He originally filed the petition in the Eastern District of New York. That court transferred the matter to the Southern District of New York because Lebron challenges a conviction from Bronx County, which is within the Southern District.
Unsigned Petition
The petition did not contain Lebron’s 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 court papers personally. The court directed Lebron to return the petition’s signature page with his original signature within 30 days of the order. A copy of the signature page was attached to the order.
Filing Fee or Fee-Waiver Application
A habeas petitioner must pay the $5 filing fee or submit a signed application requesting permission to proceed without prepaying the fee. Lebron had submitted such an application, but it was incomplete and unsigned. The court gave him 30 days to either pay the $5 filing fee or complete and submit the attached amended application, labeled with docket number 22-CV-9089 (LTS).
Disposition
Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain did not require an answer from the respondent at that stage. The order stated that the action would be dismissed without prejudice if Lebron failed to comply within the permitted time. The court also certified that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. This order addressed filing requirements and did not decide the merits of Lebron’s habeas petition.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.