Opinion
Case No. 2:03-CV-978 DAK
December 2, 2003
ORDER
Petitioner, Bruce Niles Moore, has filed on behalf of his son, David Samuel Moore, a pro se habeas corpus petition. However, David Samuel Moore, whom Bruce Niles Moore asserts to be an adult, has not signed any of the pleadings, nor is there any indication in the pleadings that he even knows of the petition.
It is well settled "that parents who are not attorneys may not bring apro se action on their child's behalf — because it helps to ensure that children rightfully entitled to legal relief are not deprived of their day in court by unskilled, if caring, parents."Devine v. Indian River County Sch. Bd., 121 F.3d 576, 582 (11th Cir. 1997); see also 28 U.S.C.A. § 1654 (West 1994) ("In all courts of the United States the parties may plead and conduct their own cases personally or by counsel as, by the rules of such courts, respectively, are permitted to manage and conduct causes therein.");Sule v. Story, No. 95-1422, 1996 U.S. App. LEXIS 7550, at *5 (10th Cir. Apr. 11, 1996) ("[A]lthough . . . a pro se plaintiff has the right to appear on his own behalf, he may not represent another pro se plaintiff in federal court,");cf. Pajarito Plateau Homesteaders, Inc. v. United States, 346 F.3d 983, 986 (10th Cir. 2003) ("A non-lawyer may not represent another individual on appeal and cannot file a notice of appeal on another's behalf.")
Further, Rule of Civil Procedure 17(a) states,
Every action shall be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest. An executor, administrator, guardian, bailee, trustee of an express trust, a party with whom or in whose name a contract has been made for the benefit of another, or a party authorized by statute may sue in that persons's own name without joining the party for whose benefit the action is brought. . . .
Fed.R.Civ.P. 17(a). Petitioner has not set forth any legal ground upon which he may be authorized to bring actions on behalf of his son. He does state that he was his son's legal guardian before his son turned eighteen in July of 2003, but his guardianship presumably has now ended. Thus, Petitioner Bruce Niles Moore has no authority to act for his son and may not bring this petition.
Finally, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(a) requires that "[e]very pleading, written motion, and other paper shall . . . if the party is not represented by an attorney, shall be signed by the party." Again, Petitioner David Samuel Moore has not signed any of the documents submitted to the Court by Petitioner Bruce Niles Moore.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the current petition is dismissed. Any of the particular claims contained in the petition may be pursued by David Samuel Moore in a petition prepared and signed either by himself or counsel he retains.