:: Anon-To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net This spam-proofed message was sent by Michael Froomkin. To reply privately, send mail to my surname at law.tm [cc's trimmed!] Lest anyone be mislead, this filing is garbage. I find particularly ridiculous the idea that a court can only cite cases submitted by the parties. On the contrary, the court's duty is to cite the law correctly, and thus to ignore anything inaccurate or irrelevant submitted by the parties and to supplement where and when needed. Nowhere is this duty clearer when, as here, one side is not represented by counsel; as it happens, the court exercises this duty to supplement _to help_ the pro se plaintiff, not hurt it. I have not followed the pleadings very carefully in this case, so I won't express a view on the merits except to say that having attempted to read plaintiffs' submissions I was not able to figure out much about what merit their case was supposed to have. Were I to be asked by a pro se plaintiff how to best present their case in federal court, I would say: don't try to write legalistically. Use the case caption at the top of the first page, as provided by the rules of court, then identify who you are, and who you are suing in the first paragraphs, then tell your story in plain and simple English with as few legalisms as possible. If you have a particular statute or statutes in mind that you think were violated, do specify them, but also ask for whatever other relief the court may find just or equitable so as to preserve all your options. Legalistic mumbo-jumbo is NOT required, and only gets in the way of telling your story. Attacking the court is stupid, both because it usually isn't justified and because it never achieves anything. A. Michael Froomkin | +1 (305) 284-4285; +1 (305) 284-6506 (fax) Associate Professor of Law | U. Miami School of Law | P.O. Box 248087 | Coral Gables, FL 33124 USA | It's @#$#@ hot here.