All suits welcome in federal court

There they were. Filed in between a multitude of criminal defense motions and breach of contract lawsuits.

One was a $30 million civil rights complaint filed by a Las Vegas resident who claimed Hillary Rodham Clinton and Metro Police were conspiring to sexually assault her repeatedly for research. Another was the 28th lawsuit by a local resident claiming that the federal courthouse's magnetometer tortures him sexually and reads his thoughts.

Circular file candidates? Something to be laughed at? Something to be disgusted by, just like the prison inmate who filed a lawsuit because he was deprived of his favorite kind of peanut butter?

Not at the Foley Federal Building.

"No case filed in this court is frivolous," U.S. District Clerk Lance Wilson said. "We accept everything that is filed, whether it's typed or handwritten. Everything gets the same type of judicial scrutiny."

U.S. District Judge Philip Pro said one of the things he enjoys so much about his job is the diversity of cases. The fact that some cases are odd and that he works at one of the busiest courthouses in the United States doesn't enter into it, he said.

In 1998, more than 2,900 civil lawsuits and 500 criminal cases were filed in U.S. District Court in Nevada, making it the third busiest court in the country.

More than 1,100 of the civil cases filed pertained to prisoners. Another 400 were civil rights cases. There also were more than 600 contracts and torts.

The Administrative Office of the United States Courts, however, doesn't have an "off-the wall" category in its database so no one knows how many such cases are filed every year. But, the two examples above were both filed within the past month. In each case, the litigants paid a $150 filing fee and filed their lawsuits pro se, or without an attorney.

U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben said judges can't tell whether pro se cases have merit until they are carefully considered.

"We handle everything the same way," McKibben said. "One of the beauties of our system is that everyone who feels they have a claim is entitled to file an action."

Cases are not dismissed just because they appear to be strange, Pro said.

"When cases are dismissed they are dismissed either because they fail to state a claim or the court lacks the jurisdiction to hear them," Pro said. "We try to identify them early in the process."

In the case filed against the Foley Federal Building by the man who believes the X-ray machine is reading his thoughts, the U.S. attorney's office filed a motion to dismiss, stating the complaint was a "pile of jibberish" and that the defendant obviously is "suffering from delusional behavior."

Although pro se litigants are held to less stringent standards than attorneys, the plaintiff "still failed to state a claim or a nexus between the use of the (magnetometer) and the personnel and the workers at the Foley Federal Building," the motion says.

"While such a situation is indeed sad, (the plaintiff) cannot be allowed to waste the precious resources of the judiciary, both federal and state, as well as the resources of the U.S. attorney's office with his constant diatribes regarding this piece of equipment," the motion states.

The U.S. attorney's office also asked the court to prevent the plaintiff from filing additional lawsuits or complaints without the court's permission.

Although judges are prevented from speaking about specific cases, Pro and McKibben said the number of off-the-wall cases are so few, they aren't an issue.

In fact, Pro said he can't remember if he has ever issued an injunction against a plaintiff preventing him from filing additional suits.

Prisoner lawsuits have diminished because of legislation making it possible to take away good behavior credits, but the other types of cases are "not a major issue," McKibben said.

"Most of what we do has nothing to do with" those types of cases, Pro said. "They don't take an inordinate amount of time. Our time is taken up by serious litigants with serious concerns."

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