James v. Arresting Officer ID968234
- Laura Swain
- 1:23-cv-05387
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In James v. Arresting Officer ID #968234, Judge Swain ordered a signed prisoner authorization within 30 days or dismissal.
Julian James, whose case must receive a signed prisoner authorization before it will be processed and for whom the order states that noncompliance will result in dismissal.
What happened
In James v. Arresting Officer ID #968234, Julian James brought the case without a lawyer and submitted a prisoner authorization without a signature.
The court explained that court papers filed by an unrepresented party must include that party’s handwritten signature or mark. It directed James to submit a new authorization with an original signature within 30 days.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered that no summons issue yet and said the case would proceed through the Clerk’s Office if James complied. The order states that the action will be dismissed if he did not comply within the allowed time.
The detailed version
- James v. Arresting Officer ID968234 · No. 1:23-cv-05387
- Laura Swain
- June 27, 2023
Background
Julian James filed this action without a lawyer. He submitted a prisoner authorization, but the authorization did not contain a signature.
Court’s analysis
The court cited Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) and Local Civil Rule 11.1(a), which require a court filing by an unrepresented party to be personally signed. The court explained that the required signature must be handwritten or a handwritten mark placed on the document.
Order
The court directed James to resubmit the attached prisoner authorization with an original signature within 30 days of the order. The authorization concerns the filing fees and related account information required for a prisoner case. No summons shall issue at this time. If James complies, the case will be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he does not comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.