116
Opinion of the Court
(2001), last Term. In that case, we considered whether the Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 signature requirement entailed the dismissal of a notice of appeal that was timely filed in the district court but was not signed within the filing period. We held that while the timing and content requirements for the notice of appeal were "jurisdictional in nature," nothing prevented later cure of the signature defect, 532 U. S., at 765. There is no reason to think that relation back of the oath here is any less reasonable than relation back of the signature in Becker. Both are aimed at stemming the urge to litigate irresponsibly, and if relation back is a good rule for courts of law, it would be passing strange to call it bad for an administrative agency.10 In fact, it would be passing strange to disagree with the EEOC even without Becker, for a long history of practice with oath requirements supports the relation-back cure.
Where a statute or supplemental rule requires an oath,11
courts have shown a high degree of consistency in accepting later verification as reaching back to an earlier, unverified filing.12 This background law not only persuades by its reg-10 We also note that Rule 15(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure permits the relation back of amendments to pleadings under specified circumstances.
11 See, e. g., Rule C(6) of the Supplemental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime Claims ("[A] person who asserts an interest in or right against the property that is the subject of the [civil forfeiture] action must file a verified statement identifying the interest or right").
12 See, e. g., United States v. United States Currency in Amount of $103,387.27, 863 F. 2d 555, 561-563 (CA7 1988); Johnston Broadcasting Co. v. FCC, 175 F. 2d 351, 355-356 (CADC 1949); see also 5A C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1339, p. 150 (2d ed. 1990) ("Even if a federal rule or statute requires verification, a failure to comply does not render the document fatally defective"). In Armstrong v. Fernandez, 208 U. S. 324, 330 (1908), we approved a bankruptcy court's allowance of nunc pro tunc verification of a petition filed under the Bankruptcy Act of 1898.
State-court practice before and after Congress enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1964 has been, for the greater part, the same as federal. See, e. g., United Farm Workers of Am. v. Agricultural Labor Relations Bd., 37
Page: Index Previous 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007