BURROUGHS v. HILL

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA MACON DIVISION TORRES ANTWAN BURROUGHS, Plaintiff, CIVIL ACTION NO. v. 5:22-cv-00272-TES-TQL FNU HILL, et al., Defendants.

ORDER

On May 19, 2023, Plaintiff Torres Burroughs “filed” Objections [Doc. 41] to the magistrate judge’s Recommendation, along with a Motion for Extension of Time to File Objections [Doc. 42]. However, both documents were signed by someone other than Plaintiff. See [Doc. 41, p. 4 (signed “by POA”)]; [Doc. 42 (same)]. Even more, the filings were mailed from “S. Burroughs” at 6 Mossy Court, “Sav’h, GA” 31419. [Doc. 41-10].

Plaintiff, however, is currently housed at Wilcox State Prison in Abbeville, Georgia. [Doc. 35]; [Doc. 36].

It is black-letter law that a non-lawyer cannot represent someone in a legal proceeding. That includes those purporting to act under power of attorney. Jacox v. Dep’t of Def., No. 5:06CV182 HL, 2007 WL 118102, at *1 (M.D. Ga. Jan. 10, 2007) (“By its own terms [28 U.S.C.] § 1654 requires those persons who seek to represent themselves in federal courts to do so ‘personally,’ thereby foreclosing on the possibility that such representation could occur by proxy.”); Brown v. Great N. Ins. Co., No. 2:14-CV-00015- RWS, 2015 WL 898357, at *10 (N.D. Ga. Mar. 3, 2015) (“Consequently, the existence of a power of attorney does not authorize a non-lawyer to conduct legal proceedings on behalf of a pro se litigant[.]”). Further, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 requires each pleading filed in a federal court to be signed personally by the party representing themselves. Fed. R. Civ. P. 11. Rule 11 further instructs courts to strike a document that is improperly signed. Accordingly, the Court STRIKES Plaintiff’s Objections [Doc. 41].

As to Plaintiff’s Motion for Extension of Time to File Objections, the Court previously granted Plaintiff additional time to file his objections. See [Doc. 40 (extending the deadline for objections to May 29, 2023)]. Therefore, the Court DENIES Plaintiff Motion for Extension of Time [Doc. 42]. Plaintiff must file any objections on or before May 29, 2023.

SO ORDERED, this 19th day of May, 2023.

S/ Tilman E. Self, III TILMAN E. SELF, III, JUDGE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT