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S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Aug. 28, 2023

Song v. Becerra

Judge
Clarke
Docket
1:23-cv-07484
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
3
Civil ProcedurePro Se
In one sentence

In Song v. Becerra, Judge Clarke ordered Deming Song to submit an original complaint signature within 30 days or face dismissal.

Who this affects

Deming Song, who must provide an original signature for the complaint within 30 days to avoid dismissal.

What happened

In Song v. Becerra, Deming Song filed the complaint without a signature while proceeding without a lawyer. The court said the federal and local rules require an unrepresented party to personally sign a complaint.

The court ordered Song to resubmit the complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days. No summons will issue for now; if Song complies, the Clerk’s Office will process the case, but if Song does not, the action will be dismissed.

Judge Jessica G. L. Clarke also certified that an appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Song v. Becerra · No. 1:23-cv-07484
Judge
Clarke
Date
Aug. 28, 2023

Background

Deming Song brought this action against Xavier Becerra and proceeded without a lawyer. Song submitted the complaint without a signature.

Signature Requirement

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) and Local Civil Rule 11.1(a) require an unrepresented party to sign a pleading personally. The court explained that the required signature must be handwritten or another mark placed by the person signing.

Order

The court directed Song to resubmit the complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days of the order. No summons shall issue at this time. If Song complies, the case shall be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If Song fails to comply within the allowed time, the action will be dismissed.

The court also certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith. It therefore denied permission to appeal without prepaying fees.

The authoritative version

Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
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