U.S. ex rel. Verdone v. Circuit Court for Taylor County

CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)
Citation73 F.3d 669
Docket NumberNos. 93-2913,95-1133 and 95-8009,s. 93-2913
PartiesUNITED STATES of America, ex rel. Todd VERDONE, Pro Per, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CIRCUIT COURT FOR TAYLOR COUNTY, et al., Defendants-Appellees. In the Matter of Todd VERDONE, Petitioner. to 95-8011.
Decision Date27 December 1995

Todd Verdone, submitted on briefs, Medford, WI, for Todd Verdone.

James H. McDermott, Office of the Attorney General, Wisconsin Department of Justice, Madison, WI, for Circuit Court for

Taylor County, Gary L. Carlson, Ronald Keberle.

Jeffrey J. Strande, Terwilliger, Wakeen, Piehler & Conway, Wausau, WI, for William Grunewald, Yvonne Bauer, Rose Thums, Toni Mattias, Margaret Gebauer, Taylor County Sheriff Department, William K. Breneman, Norman Dassow, Nicholas R. Synol, Michael Johnson, David Kahn, Michael Soto, James Gorichs.

Raymond G. Clausen, Stilp, Cotton & Wells, Madison, WI, for Medford City Police Department, Jack Kay, Dan Olsen, Ted Bever, Gary Krueger.

Mary Batt, Office of the Attorney General, Wisconsin Department of Justice, Madison, WI, for Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Roger D. Cross, Wisconsin State Patrol, Marsha Whiley, Roger Herrell.

Peggy A. Lautenschlager, Office of the United States Attorney, Madison, WI, for Barbara B. Crabb, John C. Shabaz.

Robert A. Selk, Mary Batt, Office of the Attorney General, Wisconsin Department of Justice, Madison, WI, Peggy A. Lautenschlager, Office of the United States Attorney, Madison, WI, Jeffrey J. Strande, Terwilliger, Wakeen, Piehler & Conway, Wausau, WI, Shawn M. Mutter, Taylor County District Attorney's Office, Medford, WI, for Terrence T. Evans.

Before POSNER, Chief Judge, CUMMINGS and BAUER, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM.

Todd Verdone insists that he has an absolute constitutional right to travel and therefore is not subject to the Wisconsin traffic code, and on that basis he challenges various traffic-related rulings including a citation and $10 fine for driving without wearing a seat belt; a citation and $69 fine for driving an unregistered vehicle (later held in contempt, arrested, and license suspended for failure to pay fine); and four citations for operating a motor vehicle while license suspended or revoked (resulting in several arrests for failure to pay related fines). Were we faced with a single, straightforward, direct appeal from the Wisconsin Supreme Court's denial of relief, we would dismiss on the basis of the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. District of Columbia Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462, 103 S.Ct. 1303, 75 L.Ed.2d 206 (1983); Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413, 44 S.Ct. 149, 68 L.Ed. 362 (1923). Instead, Verdone has seriously abused his right of access to courts by filing an inordinate number of frivolous and vexatious actions in the district courts of Wisconsin and in this court, despite repeated warnings and the imposition of sanctions. He has also filed actions unrelated to his traffic problems, in which sanctions have also proved to be ineffectual.

Frivolous, vexatious, and repeated filings by pro se litigants interfere with the orderly administration of justice by diverting scarce judicial resources from cases having merit and filed by litigants willing to follow court orders. The Supreme Court has noted:

Every paper filed with the Clerk of this Court, no matter how repetitious or frivolous, requires some portion of the institution's limited resources. A part of the Court's responsibility is to see that these resources are allocated in a way that promotes the interests of justice. In re McDonald, 489 U.S. 180, 184 [109 S.Ct. 993, 996, 103 L.Ed.2d 158] (1989).

We are guided by our duty to "protect and preserve the sound and orderly administration of justice." In re Martin-Trigona, 737 F.2d 1254, 1262 (2d Cir.1984). See also In re Anderson, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 1606, 128 L.Ed.2d 332 (1994) (per curiam); Sassower v. Mead Data Central, Inc., --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 2, 126 L.Ed.2d 6 (1993) (per curiam); Support Systems Int'l, Inc. v. Mack, 45 F.3d 185 (7th Cir.1995); Sassower v. American Bar Association, 33 F.3d 733 (7th Cir.1994) (per curiam); In re United Markets Int'l, Inc., 24 F.3d 650 (5th Cir.1994) (per curiam); Perry v. Pogemiller, 16 F.3d 138, 140 (7th Cir.1993); Gelabert v. Lynaugh, 894 F.2d 746, 748 (5th Cir.1990) (per curiam).

In district court case No. 93-C-421, the district court entered an order on February 7, 1994 stating:

In the thirteen months from November, 1992 to December 1993, plaintiff has filed nine cases, sometimes naming a dozen or more defendants. Five of the cases are now closed, having been found completely devoid of merit. This action, in which plaintiff sued twenty-seven named and five hundred unnamed defendants on the ground that he is not subject to the Wisconsin traffic code, has also been dismissed except for one unrelated claim against one defendant....

Despite repeated warnings that he is subject to sanctions for his groundless filings, plaintiff has continued his practice of initiating frivolous lawsuits and then bombarding the court and fellow litigants with a volley of nonsensical and vituperative "demands" and other documents throughout the pendency of the lawsuits. At the same time, plaintiff fails to comply with the briefing schedules set by the court or to reply to dispositive motions filed by defendants. In addition, plaintiff ignores explanations of the defects of his claims, choosing instead to repeat the same defects in subsequent complaints.

The district court went on to prohibit Verdone from filing any lawsuit against Taylor County or its employees or related judicial entities until he has paid in full the judgment for attorney's fees and costs. In addition, any complaint filed by Verdone must be reviewed by the court before it can be filed for a determination as to whether it is duplicative of matters already litigated or currently pending, or legally frivolous. The court added: "If plaintiff fails to comply with this order, he may be found in contempt of court and punished accordingly."

We have experienced similar problems with the 12 cases Verdone has filed in this court. The number may seem low compared to the deluge filed by some litigants, but Verdone has a distressing practice of repeatedly abandoning his suits after draining enormous amounts of time and expense from the limited resources of both the courts and the named defendants. For example, in the 12 actions filed in this court, we dismissed one because Verdone failed to respond to our notice that he was required to file a jurisdictional statement (No. 93-4047). We dismissed two appeals as premature (Nos. 94-1118 and 93-4057). We dismissed a writ of error as untimely (No. 94-3783). And we dismissed another appeal for failure to pay a docketing fee (No. 94-2249). Five other appeals are disposed of in this opinion for similar reasons, as described below.

In No. 93-2313, we sanctioned Verdone by ordering him to pay $613.80 in attorney's fees in Verdone v. Taylor County, No. 93-2313, 12 F.3d 1101 (7th Cir. Dec. 6, 1993) (unpublished), where we stated: "It is clear from the record this appeal was filed for no reason other than to harass the defendants by a litigant who is too obstinate to accept the fact that his claims are frivolous." Apparently Verdone has never bothered to pay that sanction. Verdone has also refused to pay the $2,043.98 sanction imposed by the district court on February 7, 1994, in case No. 93-C-421.

Similarly, the district court ordered Verdone not to file anything against Taylor County or its employees until the monetary sanctions were paid. Verdone ignored the order and attempted to file a new civil rights case. He also ignored the portion of the district court's order imposing a precertification rule, requiring Verdone to present all filings--whether against Taylor County or not--to Chief Judge Barbara Crabb. Verdone tried to side-step this court order by naming Judge Crabb as a defendant in a new suit he filed in this district court, requiring a transfer to another district and Judge Evans' subsequent review of the entire case and his order enforcing Judge Crabb's pre-filing requirements.

We are faced with a pattern of grossly negligent conduct of litigation. Verdone has shown in every case an exceptionally irresponsible manner in which he conducts the litigation. He overtly ignores briefing schedules, other deadlines, and pre-filing requirements. Instead of complying with court orders or rules, he simply files new suits in the district court, and new appeals or original actions in this court. He repeatedly abandons motions, appeals, and other filings he has presented to the court. He has also started sending correspondence directly to chambers, further increasing the imposition on judicial resources.

The large majority of the actions involve Verdone's traffic problems, yet he has failed to raise even a hint of viability in his claim that his repeated violations of traffic laws threatens any constitutional right, including the right to travel. Despite Judge Crabb's careful and thorough explanations about the defects in these actions, Verdone insists on duplicating the same defects over and over.

Before we explain our proposed sanctions order, we first dispose of the appeals and petitions for extraordinary writs that are presently pending before this court, which further support the necessity of a sanctions order.

Pending Seventh Circuit Cases
No. 93-2913

In No. 93-2913, Verdone filed a civil rights action against defendants pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983, alleging various constitutional violations resulting from a series of traffic court citations and convictions. On July 20, 1993, the district court denied plaintiff's request for a preliminary injunction, and on July 29, 1993, the district court denied plaintiff's motion to amend the complaint and add additional defendan...

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