After Inmate Files Some 3,800 Lawsuits, Prosecutors Seek to Stop the Onslaught
A federal inmate who once dubbed himself the “lawsuit Zeus” is so litigious that prosecutors are trying to put an end to the frivolous filings.
Jonathan Lee Riches has filed more than 3,800 lawsuits, targeting defendants ranging from the planet Pluto to former president George W. Bush, the Associated Press reports. The Bush suit claimed the president and his brother had snuck into prison to clone his brain. A motion in another case, chronicled by Above the Law, claimed Riches became addicted to video games, causing him to lose touch with reality and his mind to become a living video game.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lexington, Ky., filed a petition on Monday asking a judge to allow prison officials to screen Riches’ outgoing mail or to appoint a court employee to determine if Riches’ filings are frivolous, AP says. Riches’ lawsuits are “a waste of judicial resources,” prosecutors say.
Riches has been in prison almost 10 years. He pleaded guilty to a scam to obtain credit card numbers from AOL users, and is scheduled for release in March 2012, the story says.
