Page:United States Reports 502 OCT. TERM 1991.pdf/408

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SMITH v. BARRY Scalia, J., concurring in judgment

Finally, respondents argue that Smith’s brief is not an adequate notice of appeal because it lacks information required by Rule 3(c). Having held that an informal brief can never substitute for a formal notice of appeal, the Court of Appeals declined to reach this question. 919 F. 2d, at 896, n. 7. On remand, it should undertake the appropriate analysis. See, e. g., Foman, supra; Torres, supra. The judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. It is so ordered. Justice Scalia, concurring in the judgment. I agree with the judgment because Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 3(c) provides that “[a]n appeal shall not be dismissed for informality of form or title of the notice of appeal.” I do not rely on the theory that petitioner’s brief was the “ ‘functional equivalent’ ” of a notice of appeal under a “liberal construction” of Rule 3. Ante, at 248. “[W]e should seek to interpret the rules neither liberally nor stingily, but only, as best we can, according to their apparent intent.” Torres v. Oakland Scavenger Co., 487 U. S. 312, 319 (1988) (Scalia, J., concurring in judgment).