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PLEDGE OF SOLIDARITY FOR PRO SE LITIGANT RIGHTS! |
608 Signatures |
Published by Joseph L. Delgado (P.U.L.S.E.) on Apr 05, 2007
Category: Law Reform
Region: United States of America
Target: State & Federal Courts and State Legislatures - U.S.A.
Background (Preamble):
As someone who has dedicated the last 19 of his 27 years of paralegal experience assisting Pro Se Litigants, I am a staunch supporter of the RIGHT TO SELF-REPRESENTATION.
The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has been interpreted to provide EVERY AMERICAN with the CONSTITUTIONAL right to self-representation, if they so choose. That right, like all other constitutional rights, should be enjoyed without fear of harassment or judicial prejudice. Furthermore, no law, regulation, or policy should exist to abridge or surreptitiously extinguish that right.
Pro Se Litigants have no less of a right to EFFECTIVE due process under the U.S. Constitution as those individuals who utilize an attorney. In fact, nowhere in the Constitution does it specify that the hiring of a lawyer is a prerequisite to exercising one's due process rights. Democracy dictates that we have the right to freely choose between self-representation and hiring a lawyer to handle our legal matters without suffering humiliation, prejudice or penalization. After all, it is the parties to the litigation that ultimately have to deal with the consequences of the Court's ruling, and not the judge or the lawyers involved in the case.
Contrary to the view of certain judges and lawyers, those who opt to litigate their own legal matters without an attorney are NOT second-class citizens deserving of contempt and prejudice. Instead, they are BRAVE AMERICANS with an inalienable right to have their legal causes adjudicated objectively and justly -- with or without a lawyer. Self-representation can be a difficult, time-consuming, and sometimes frightening experience -- worse for those burdened by work responsibilities, tending to a family, and other obligations of day-to-day living. In my view, those who engage in self-litigation should be REVERED for their COURAGE and DEDICATION, not scorned.
In support of the foregoing ideals, I founded a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization called PEOPLE UNITED FOR LEGAL SYSTEM EQUALITY (P.U.L.S.E.). PULSE’s mission is to preserve the right to self-representation, protest undue prejudice and abuse against self-litigants, and advocate for fair and meaningful reforms that will facilitate a more equitable experience for the self-represented. PULSE intends to accomplish this agenda through grassroots mobilization, community awareness and education, policy intervention, public protests, and providing financial support and legal assistance to select "high impact" cases which offer appellate opportunities for protecting and expanding the rights of all Pro Se Litigants.
For PULSE to be effective, an active network of like-minded, vocal, and politically-expressive supporters and activists from every state in the union must be organized. To that end, I submit for your consideration the PLEDGE OF SOLIDARITY, below. I hope you will sign it, and well as distribute it to all of your friends, family members and other contacts who support the ideals of FAIRNESS and JUSTICE regarding the legal process.
PLEASE HELP US ORGANIZE AND MOBILIZE TO TAKE BACK OUR COURTS! We need to get rid of those particular lawyers, judges and court administrators who, in the interest of protecting the profitable LEGAL SYSTEM MONOPOLY, submit self-litigants to a hostile and often abusive litigation atmosphere calculated to discourage self-representation and make us DEPENDENT on lawyers to navigate the legal system.
STAND UP AND BE COUNTED by signing the Pledge of Solidarity! The more signatures collected, the more credibility the courts, legislatures, and the media will attribute to PULSE, its efforts to expose the injustices suffered by Pro Se Litigants, and its demands for meaningful reforms.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!
The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has been interpreted to provide EVERY AMERICAN with the CONSTITUTIONAL right to self-representation, if they so choose. That right, like all other constitutional rights, should be enjoyed without fear of harassment or judicial prejudice. Furthermore, no law, regulation, or policy should exist to abridge or surreptitiously extinguish that right.
Pro Se Litigants have no less of a right to EFFECTIVE due process under the U.S. Constitution as those individuals who utilize an attorney. In fact, nowhere in the Constitution does it specify that the hiring of a lawyer is a prerequisite to exercising one's due process rights. Democracy dictates that we have the right to freely choose between self-representation and hiring a lawyer to handle our legal matters without suffering humiliation, prejudice or penalization. After all, it is the parties to the litigation that ultimately have to deal with the consequences of the Court's ruling, and not the judge or the lawyers involved in the case.
Contrary to the view of certain judges and lawyers, those who opt to litigate their own legal matters without an attorney are NOT second-class citizens deserving of contempt and prejudice. Instead, they are BRAVE AMERICANS with an inalienable right to have their legal causes adjudicated objectively and justly -- with or without a lawyer. Self-representation can be a difficult, time-consuming, and sometimes frightening experience -- worse for those burdened by work responsibilities, tending to a family, and other obligations of day-to-day living. In my view, those who engage in self-litigation should be REVERED for their COURAGE and DEDICATION, not scorned.
In support of the foregoing ideals, I founded a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization called PEOPLE UNITED FOR LEGAL SYSTEM EQUALITY (P.U.L.S.E.). PULSE’s mission is to preserve the right to self-representation, protest undue prejudice and abuse against self-litigants, and advocate for fair and meaningful reforms that will facilitate a more equitable experience for the self-represented. PULSE intends to accomplish this agenda through grassroots mobilization, community awareness and education, policy intervention, public protests, and providing financial support and legal assistance to select "high impact" cases which offer appellate opportunities for protecting and expanding the rights of all Pro Se Litigants.
For PULSE to be effective, an active network of like-minded, vocal, and politically-expressive supporters and activists from every state in the union must be organized. To that end, I submit for your consideration the PLEDGE OF SOLIDARITY, below. I hope you will sign it, and well as distribute it to all of your friends, family members and other contacts who support the ideals of FAIRNESS and JUSTICE regarding the legal process.
PLEASE HELP US ORGANIZE AND MOBILIZE TO TAKE BACK OUR COURTS! We need to get rid of those particular lawyers, judges and court administrators who, in the interest of protecting the profitable LEGAL SYSTEM MONOPOLY, submit self-litigants to a hostile and often abusive litigation atmosphere calculated to discourage self-representation and make us DEPENDENT on lawyers to navigate the legal system.
STAND UP AND BE COUNTED by signing the Pledge of Solidarity! The more signatures collected, the more credibility the courts, legislatures, and the media will attribute to PULSE, its efforts to expose the injustices suffered by Pro Se Litigants, and its demands for meaningful reforms.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!
Petition:
In support of PEOPLE UNITED FOR LEGAL SYSTEM EQUALITY (P.U.L.S.E.) and its mission to protect the right of ALL AMERICANS to self-representation in state and federal courts without penalty, prejudice or abuse, the undersigned hereby state the following:
I BELIEVE every citizen has a constitutional right to self-representation in any legal proceeding, and the judiciary has a duty to honor, protect and accommodate that right.
I BELIEVE that since the right to self-representation is constitutionally protected, the choice to utilize non-lawyer resources and alternatives to aid the self-litigant is equally protected as an expression of that right and should not be prohibited by any attorney bar associations, the courts or the government.
I BELIEVE that anyone who chooses to exercise the right of self-representation should not suffer harassment, humiliation, retribution or bias from any judge, opposing attorney or court personnel for deciding to express that right.
I BELIEVE the courts are public institutions dedicated to the just, equitable and affordable adjudication of legal claims, and not a venue to service the professional and commercial interests of lawyers or special interest groups.
I BELIEVE attorney bar associations exists primarily to protect and lobby for the professional and commercial interests of lawyers.
I SUPPORT amending “Unauthorized Practice of Law” statutes and regulations so that Pro Se Litigants have the freedom to use whatever helpful and cost-effective non-lawyer alternatives, tools and resources that exist to aid them in their self-representation efforts.
I BELIEVE that the judiciary has a legal and moral obligation to make the courts more user-friendly, hospitable, accountable, and reasonably accommodating to anyone exercising their right to self-representation.
I OPPOSE any rule, regulation, statute, case law or policy which forces litigants to hire lawyers, obstruct or prevent the right to self-representation, and/or discourages the utilization of helpful and cost-effective non-lawyer alternatives, tools and resources that exist to aid them in their self-representation efforts.
I SUPPORT reforms that promote fair and equitable treatment of Pro Se Litigants; encourage the use of non-lawyer alternatives, tools and resources; and abolish policies and practices which give lawyers special treatment and preferences.
I SUPPORT the development and obligatory attendance of annual Pro Se Litigant “sensitivity training” sessions for the benefit of all judges, lawyers and court personnel.
I SUPPORT reforms that permit court personnel to provide Pro Se Litigants with the same information, guidance and assistance that they provide to lawyers, including the dispensing of procedural information.
I OPPOSE any case law or judicial policy which punitively mandates that Pro Se Litigants “think, speak and act” like attorneys. Although Pro Se Litigants typically lack the education, training and experience that lawyers have, they are still entitled to a fair and equitable adjudication of their legal claims. Presuming otherwise deprives the self-litigant of their constitutional right to due process.
I BELIEVE every citizen has a constitutional right to self-representation in any legal proceeding, and the judiciary has a duty to honor, protect and accommodate that right.
I BELIEVE that since the right to self-representation is constitutionally protected, the choice to utilize non-lawyer resources and alternatives to aid the self-litigant is equally protected as an expression of that right and should not be prohibited by any attorney bar associations, the courts or the government.
I BELIEVE that anyone who chooses to exercise the right of self-representation should not suffer harassment, humiliation, retribution or bias from any judge, opposing attorney or court personnel for deciding to express that right.
I BELIEVE the courts are public institutions dedicated to the just, equitable and affordable adjudication of legal claims, and not a venue to service the professional and commercial interests of lawyers or special interest groups.
I BELIEVE attorney bar associations exists primarily to protect and lobby for the professional and commercial interests of lawyers.
I SUPPORT amending “Unauthorized Practice of Law” statutes and regulations so that Pro Se Litigants have the freedom to use whatever helpful and cost-effective non-lawyer alternatives, tools and resources that exist to aid them in their self-representation efforts.
I BELIEVE that the judiciary has a legal and moral obligation to make the courts more user-friendly, hospitable, accountable, and reasonably accommodating to anyone exercising their right to self-representation.
I OPPOSE any rule, regulation, statute, case law or policy which forces litigants to hire lawyers, obstruct or prevent the right to self-representation, and/or discourages the utilization of helpful and cost-effective non-lawyer alternatives, tools and resources that exist to aid them in their self-representation efforts.
I SUPPORT reforms that promote fair and equitable treatment of Pro Se Litigants; encourage the use of non-lawyer alternatives, tools and resources; and abolish policies and practices which give lawyers special treatment and preferences.
I SUPPORT the development and obligatory attendance of annual Pro Se Litigant “sensitivity training” sessions for the benefit of all judges, lawyers and court personnel.
I SUPPORT reforms that permit court personnel to provide Pro Se Litigants with the same information, guidance and assistance that they provide to lawyers, including the dispensing of procedural information.
I OPPOSE any case law or judicial policy which punitively mandates that Pro Se Litigants “think, speak and act” like attorneys. Although Pro Se Litigants typically lack the education, training and experience that lawyers have, they are still entitled to a fair and equitable adjudication of their legal claims. Presuming otherwise deprives the self-litigant of their constitutional right to due process.
The PLEDGE OF SOLIDARITY FOR PRO SE LITIGANT RIGHTS! petition to State & Federal Courts and State Legislatures - U.S.A. was written by Joseph L. Delgado (P.U.L.S.E.) and is hosted free of charge at GoPetition.
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