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"At Times, Filings by Pro Se Litigants and Attorneys Alike Are Wholly Nonsensical, but Pointing That Out" Doesn't Justify Recusal

|The Volokh Conspiracy |


Words of wisdom from Judge Jennifer Dorsey (D. Nev.) last week in Naessens v. Breslin:

[The self-represented plaintiff] takes issue with an order of mine in an unrelated case calling a pro se plaintiff's filings "wholly nonsensical" and argues that such language "suggests an undue predisposition against unrepresented parties."

Naessens … fails to show that I treated him or his allegations unfairly because of his pro se status. At times, filings by pro se litigants and attorneys alike are wholly nonsensical, but pointing that out does not supply a legal basis for recusal….

Eugene Volokh is the Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford, and the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA School of Law. Naturally, his posts here (like the opinions of the other bloggers) are his own, and not endorsed by any institution.