Williams, Jr. v. City of New York
- James Oetken
- 1:23-cv-02700
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Williams, Jr. v. City of New York, Judge Swain ordered pro se plaintiff Alexander Williams, Jr. to submit an original signature within 30 days or face dismissal.
Alexander Williams, Jr., who was required to submit an original signature to continue processing his case; the City of New York and the other defendants were not required to respond at this stage.
What happened
In Williams, Jr. v. City of New York, Alexander Williams, Jr. filed a complaint without a handwritten or personally placed signature. The court explained that federal and local rules require an unrepresented party to sign a complaint.
The court ordered Williams to resubmit the complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days. No summons would issue at that time, and the case would proceed through the Clerk’s Office only if he complied. If he did not comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying the filing fee. The order did not decide the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Williams, Jr. v. City of New York · No. 1:23-cv-02700
- James Oetken
- Apr. 3, 2023
Background
Alexander Williams, Jr. brought the action without a lawyer. The complaint was submitted without a signature. The opinion states that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) and Local Civil Rule 11.1(a) require an unrepresented party to sign a pleading. The court explained that the signature must be handwritten or otherwise personally placed, rather than merely typed or reproduced.
The text also includes a damages demand, but that portion is incomplete and malformed. The order does not analyze those demands or the underlying claims.
Order
The court directed Williams to resubmit the complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days of the order. No summons was to issue at that time. If Williams complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed period, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal-related 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 paying the filing fee. The order did not reach the merits of Williams’s claims.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.