Anyone have ideas on how to deal w/ frivolous / abusive litigation? E.g. Republic of Texas types who file suit on small county officials, tie up precious time and resources, all in the name of we're not a real state / have no authority?

Look at TPC 32.48, simulating legal process, and TPC 37.13, fraudulent record of a court. Those criminal offenses were drafted as answers to R.O.T. harrassment. If those don't work, what about injunctive relief in civil court? Plus TRCP 13 and 215-2b are also useful weapons. Ultimately, R.O.T.'s should go away after they spend a little time in the cooler for contempt. Moreover, while sanctions and the like typically don't go anywhere in regular litigation, R.O.T.'s are by no means regular.

[This message was edited by John Rolater on 09-12-02 at .]

Allow me to resurrect this old post on behalf of Allen Wright, CA in Callahan County, who has an impending trial setting with one of these ROT-types.

Anyone who would like to share their wisdom with Allen on what to expect in a prosecution under PC 37.101 (fraudulent filing of a financing statement), etc., is encouraged to call him at 325/854-1640. His defendant has apparently been papering the county with improper UCC-1's and other interesting documents ...

(p.s. - acc. to some odd, Latin-sounding documents filed by his defendant, Allen now owes the guy a couple million dollars for something-or-other ... I guess crime really does pay!)

ttt

What about asking your District Judge, as part of his contempt or order of dismissal, to enter an order finding the suits are frivolous and ordering the litigator to obtain advance approval from him prior to filing any further actions in the county or counties of the Court's jurisdiction?

That's the way Federal Judge David Hittner dealt with one non-republic of Texas frequent filer/pro=se litigator in the late 90's.

Or they could make it a condition of his probation if convicted of any of the criminal statutes.

Anyone had any recent experience with R.O.T. type litigations. We are starting to get papered. Would like to talk to someone.

See Government Code �51.901-51.904. The clerk does not have to accept the fraudulent liens/judgments/UCC-styled items, etc., for filing. If some do get filed, the affected official should file a motion under 51.902. Educate your judges, and shut these people down as fast as you can, one way or the other.

Websites devoted to debunking the "you don't have to pay federal income tax" myth do a good job of addressing the sovereignty and similar issues raised by the ROT folks. See, eg, http/evans-legal.com's tax protester FAQ. The IRS website is helpful, too, providing helpful statutory and case law references.

You may want to contact the AG's office, also. They've tried off & on for over 10 years to shut these guys down--on the civil side with injunctions and probably on the criminal side too.

Look at Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 11. Key term is "Vexatious Litigant".

Ilse Bailey in Kerr County Attorney's office has a lot of experience and information on this kind of thing. Don't know e-mail by phone is
(830)792-2220.

Not just Texas...
web page