Ind. High Court Allows ‘Serial Filers’ to Keep Litigating

Litigation

Ind. High Court Allows ‘Serial Filers’ to Keep Litigating

Posted Apr 23, 2008, 10:23 am CDT
By Molly McDonough

After filing dozens of lawsuits against the prison system and threatening a judge, convicted arsonist Eric D. Smith has finally set precedent.

And it's a precedent that has some predicting will create an influx of prisoner lawsuits, further clogging the court system, the Indianapolis Star reports.

At issue is a 3-2 Indiana Supreme Court ruling this month which overturned a 4-year-old law that barred inmates from suing if courts had ruled that three previous suits were frivolous.

Smith alone has filed 67 suits during his seven-year incarceration, the Star reports.

While that may seem excessive, the Indiana high court ruled on April 9 that restrictions against so-called serial filers violate the open courts clause of the state Constitution.

"This does not mean that meritless claims may not be summarily dismissed under the Frivolous Claims Law," Justice Theodore R. Boehm wrote for the majority in the opinion (PDF). "It does mean that an individualized assessment of each claim is required."

The Star reports that when Indiana lawmakers passed the "three strikes" law, they were attempting to deter the free flow of prisoner-generated litigation. The law cut prisoner filings in half.

Indiana's law differed from those in other states in that it completely cut off an inmates access to the courts unless the inmate feared imminent harm. Other states and federal law require serial filers to pay court fees or ask permission before filing another claim.

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