TAKING THE LONG WALK!

As you know, I have been dealing with Appellate Court for most of 2011 and the experience is beginning to wear away at me.  Today I received three orders of the Appellate Court denying my motions.  I'm like, what is this? I'm cute, I'm good looking, I have a compelling argument--how could you possibly deny me? 

Along with this more recent annoyance, I have also begun to suspect that I'm been played with by some of the Appellate Clerks.  More specifically, I have had Court Clerks refuse to accept motions I submitted stating that they were not in the right format when I know very well that the opposing attorney submitted motions using the exact same format which were accepted. 

The first and second time I confronted them on this issue, the clerks stated that they had not received any such documents from the opposing attorney.   What is more, they said, since the format was incorrect, they wouldn't accept any such documents and that they were not in the Court File. I came in twice and on two occasions the clerks assured me of this. 

Then I came in another time and--low and behold!!!--they found out that they had the documents all along and that they had accepted them despite the so called improper format. As a result, I missed the opportunity to respond to these motions because I wrongly believed they had not been officially submitted to the Court. 

When I then challenged the Clerks about accepting the opposing attorney's documents even though they said they were in an incorrect format and wouldn't accept them, all of a sudden they had an excuse saying it was OK with the particular document she had submitted.  So I then submitted my motions which were exactly the same as the opposing attorney's motions, using the same format as the opposing attorney in my case, and they again insisted the format was wrong and that I couldn't hand it in. 

I'm like, didn't you just tell me it is ok and didn't you just show me how you accepted the exact same format in motions submitted by the opposing attorney.  Oh, no, they said, you have to have this prescribed format no matter what. 

So I said, well you didn't ask the opposing attorney to do that.  So, I'm like, what is this, I'm getting nonsense every time I come down here.  I need fresh air.  I need a new crew of people.  I need the Federal Court--right now--today! 

To effectuate this change, I called my Case Manager at Appellate Court whom I will call Mr. Joe Schmoe.  Mr. Schmoe, I say, I would like to transfer my case to Federal Court, so what is the procedure for doing that?  Can I transfer it now or do I have to wait until the Appellate Court arrives at a decision?  Well, says Mr. Schmoe, I truly have no idea about that.  You would have to go to Federal Court and ask a Federal Court Clerk that question. 

This is where my reference to "taking the long walk" comes in.  The Federal Court in this area is somewhat of a hike from the Family, Civil, Criminal, Appellate and Supreme Courts so you have to take a bit of a long walk to get there.  So I took that walk.  And, of course, symbolically it is a long walk, a walk, supposedly into a more cosmopolitan, and legally sophisticated level of jurisprudence.  Or at least you hope!

I was met at the door by Men in Black Suits who provided building security.  This was in considerable contrast to the blue workmen uniforms of security guards in the State of Connecticut Courthouses.  Already, I felt like I was taking a step up. 

I obtained directions to the Federal Clerk's Office which is downstairs in the basement of the building. 

The Clerk's Office was a very large room with the service counter at a considerable distance from the clerk's desks.  There was an old fashioned silver bell there for me to ring for service, but I was not happy with the idea of ringing it; it seemed so 1920s.  There were no other customers in the office, which gave me the impression that not many people come in there. 

Eventually, a nice lady came up to me and asked me whether she could help me.  I was like, Yes, I want to transfer my Appellate Court case from State Court over to Federal Court, so how would I do that?  The clerk answered, I am really not sure.  I think you would have to ask at the Appellate Court to get an answer to that question. 

But Appellate Court told me to come down here and ask you, I responded. 

I can't say anything about that, says the clerk, but you would have to ask an Appellate Court clerk for an answer to the question. 

I responded, but you ought to know how this works.  Isn't this your business? 

No, we are not allowed to give out legal advice, answers the clerk. 

But this isn't legal advice, I said, this is simply a request regarding your procedures.  I would like to know what are the procedures involved in getting a case moved over here. 

When the clerk realized that I intended to stand there stubbornly continuing to ask questions, she said why don't I check with my supervisor and ask what she thinks. 

Then off the Clerk went and disappeared in the maze of desks where I knew people must be hidden, but couldn't see anyone.  Eventually, the clerk came back and said, you really need to ask Appellate Court. 

So I responded, don't you have anything that you can show me in the Federal Practice Book that provides guidelines, or do you have any book that gives you information on how to proceed? 

Let me just check, she says, goes back to her desk and returns with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and after around ten minutes she gets to the page about removing a case from State Court to Federal Court.  The first thing she lets me know is that most of the time it is Defendants that come to Federal Court and not Plaintiffs. 

Already, I was feeling bad since I am a Plantiff. 

She also told me that most of the time litigants come directly to Federal Court from Superior Court.  And again, I am not feeling so good because I left Superior Court a while back and I'm now in Appellate Court. 

Does being a litigant already in Appellate Court preclude you from transferring your case to Federal Court, I asked?  I don't know, answered the clerk, you would have to ask the Appellate Court whether that is the case.  Honestly, I answered, you have all these litigants coming to file cases here in Federal Court and you have never dealt with the case like mine?  Not you or anyone else in this office?  Are you for real about that?  Yes, she says, I simply don't know.  I have never dealt with a situation like this. 

Then just as if it is an afterthought, the Clerk says, we do have a Handbook for Self Represented Litigants in Federal Court.  Would you like a copy of it?  I'm like Praise the Lord--of course I would. And I took a moment to congratulate myself that I'm one of those people who keeps on hanging around asking questions no matter how many times I'm told "no".  Because If I'd accepted this Clerk's first response that I should check with Appellate Court, and if I had just picked myself up and left, I never would have found out about that Handbook!  Being persistent and annoying works!

So we get out the Handbook of Federal Procedure for Self Represented parties and looked up removal of cases.  What it said is that a Plaintiff has to file a complaint with Federal Court in order to remove a case to Federal Court while a Defendant has to file a Notice of Removal. 

I pointed out that it looks as though the Plaintiff only has to file a complaint, forget the Notice of Removal.  But the clerk disagreed with me.  She asked, how will the court know you have left their jurisdiction if you don't file a Notice of Removal?  I'm like, I don't know, because they'd get a copy of the complaint?  Still, the wording seemed a little iffy to me, so I continued to feel that I didn't have enough information.  And at that point it became clear that I'd milked the Clerk for all she could give me.  So I left.

On the way back to my car, I got on my cell phone and called Appellate Court.  I explained my problem to the Appellate Court Clerk.  How can I transfer my case from the Appellate Court to Federal Court.  What is the procedure?  Do I have to wait for a ruling in Appellate Court before transferring or can I just skip the whole thing and move on to Federal Court? 

Again, I got my answer.  You would have to speak to a Federal Court Clerk about that because we do not have that information.  Well, I said, I just spoke to a Federal Clerk and she said that I would have to get the answer from an Appellate Court Clerk.  Well, says the Clerk, I don't have that information.  And I'm not allowed to give you legal advice.  This isn't legal advice, I said.  I am simply asking you a question about procedure.  Well, says the Clerk, I really don't have the answer to that. 

Does that mean you have never been asked this question before, I asked?  Nobody has ever gone to Federal Court from Appellate Court before?  No, says the clerk, I just simply don't know.  So how would I get that information, I asked.  You would have to speak to the Case Manager, says the Clerk. 

Ok, I say, could you transfer me to Mr. Schmoe?  No, Mr. Schmoe isn't in right now, says the Clerk.  Oh, he isn't, I said, so where is he?  I don't know, says the Clerk.  Is he in today?  I ask.  Well, yes, he is, says the Clerk, but I don't know where he is.  Is he in Court I ask?  We are not paid to keep track of where our Case Managers are, says the Clerk.  Well, is he in Court or at his desk? I asked, (Seeing as I'm getting the runaround feeling and I've had too much of the runaround feeling today, and along with the I'm beginning to feel a little bit jokey, now.  I'm beginning to toy with the guy a bit, I admit, but still I am well within my rights to know the answers to my questions--honestly!) 

How can I get to speak to Mr. Schmoe, I ask.  Ok, Mrs. Sloper, says the clerk,  (just beginning to figure out what a comedian I am) I've done as much as I can today.  I've told you as much as I can, his voice fading away indicating he's ready to move on.  But, I say quickly, could you connect me first to Mr. Schmoe's voice mail?  But the Clerk has already hung up. 

So I called back and some other Clerk answers.  Could you connect me to Mr. Joe Schmoe's voice mail I say, and I leave the message including my detailed question. 

Will I hear back from Mr. Schmoe?  Well, it's several hours later and the work day is coming to a close and I still haven't heard from him.  Will I be able to get a straight answer from him about the procedure for transferring a case to Federal Court?  I doubt it.  By rights, I should get one, but the likelihood is still very low.

The big question is, the question I walk away with, is, why do they give people such a runaround.  Why do they make it so difficult for citizens in the State of Connecticut to find their way to Federal Court so they can gain access to their civil rights?  It's a good question.  Going to Federal Court shouldn't be such a tough job.