Nobile v. Biden
- Laura Swain
- 1:24-cv-01108
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Nobile v. Biden, Judge Swain ordered the pro se plaintiff to resubmit an original signature page within 30 days or face dismissal.
Natacha Nobile, the self-represented plaintiff; the case would not proceed unless she submitted the required original signature page.
What happened
In Nobile v. Biden, Natacha Nobile filed the case without a lawyer and then filed an amended complaint about two hours later. The amended complaint did not contain an original signature.
The court directed Nobile to resubmit the signature page with an original signature within 30 days. The court said no summons would issue yet and that the case would proceed through the Clerk’s Office if she complied.
If Nobile did not comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed. Judge Laura Taylor Swain also ruled that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying the filing fee.
The detailed version
- Nobile v. Biden · No. 1:24-cv-01108
- Laura Swain
- Feb. 23, 2024
Background
Natacha Nobile filed this action without a lawyer on February 12, 2024. About two hours later, she filed an amended complaint without being directed to do so by the court. The amended complaint was unsigned.
The court noted that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) and Local Civil Rule 11.1(a) require a self-represented party to sign a pleading. The court explained that the required signature must be an original handwritten signature or a hand-placed mark.
The court also noted that, in a prior related proceeding, it had barred Nobile from filing future civil actions in that court without first obtaining permission to proceed without paying the filing fee. The court did not decide the merits of the claims in this order.
Order
The court directed Nobile to resubmit the amended complaint’s signature page with an original signature within 30 days of the order. A copy of the signature page was attached to the order.
No summons would issue at that time. If Nobile complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If she failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without prepaying the filing fee.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.