Merelo v. Ruiz ( 2022 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 NARISSA MELERO, Case No. 1:22-cv-01579-ADA-HBK 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS 13 v. (Doc. No. 2) 14 GABRIEL RUIZ, JOSE VARGAS, COUNTY OF FRESNO CHILD DIRECTING CLERK OF COURT TO 15 PROTECTIVE SERVICES, DOES 1-10 CORRECT DOCKET inclusive, 16 Defendants. 17 18 Plaintiff proceeds in this civil action pro se and moves to proceed in forma pauperis under 19 28 U.S.C. § 1915. (Doc. No. 2). Plaintiff’s declarations in the motion satisfies the requirements 20 under § 1915. The Court will grant Plainitff in forma pauperis status. 21 Upon review of the Complaint, the Court notes it is unsigned. (Doc. No. 1 at 12). 22 Plaintiff's failure to sign the Complaint violates Rule 11of the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 which requires that “[e]very pleading, written motion, and other paper must be signed by at least 24 one attorney of record in the attorney's name—or by a party personally if the party is 25 unrepresented.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(a). Plaintiff's failure to sign the Complaint also violates Local 26 Rule 131 (b), which requires among other things that “[a]ll pleadings ... shall be signed by the 27 individual attorney for the party presenting them, or by the party involved if that party is 28 appearing in propria persona.” L.R. 131(b). 1 Because the Court cannot consider Plaintiff's unsigned Complaint, the Complaint will be 2 | stricken. See, e.g., West v. Hulbert, No. 1:16-CV-00046-DAD, 2016 WL 2854416, at *1 (E.D. 3 | Cal. May 16, 2016) (“Because the Court cannot consider unsigned filings, the complaint must be 4 | STRICKEN”); Anderson v. Krpan, No. 1:14-CV-01380-AWI, 2015 WL 402086, at *2 (E.D. Cal. 5 | Jan. 29, 2015) (“The Court cannot consider unsigned filings and therefore, the first amended 6 | complaint shall be stricken from the record.”) 7 Accordingly, it is ORDERED: 8 1. Plaintiff's motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis (Doc. No. 2) is GRANTED. 9 2. Plaintiff’s Complaint (Doc. No. 1) is stricken. Plaintiff must file a signed Complaint 10 within thirty (30) days of the date of this Order. 11 3. The Clerk of Court shall correct the docket to reflect the proper spelling of □□□□□□□□□□□ 12 | last name as “Melero.” 13 Dated: _ December 9, 2022 law Zh. fareh Zackte 15 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA 6 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28