Opinion
MC417-003
03-08-2017
IN RE: MATTHEW WASHINGTON
ORDER
Matthew Washington's serial litigation has subjected him to Special Case Management (SCM) by this Court. Washington v. Chatham County Police Dep't., CV415-005, doc. 7 (S.D. Ga. Apr. 28, 2015) (advising that all future lawsuits be funneled into a Miscellaneous File, where the presiding judge will review but "not necessarily enter an order addressing that complaint."), adopted, doc. 9 (S.D. Ga. May 27, 2015); In Re Matthew Washington, MC417-003 (Miscellaneous File into which Washington's latest Complaint, Washington v. Deal (S.D. Ga. Feb. 27, 2017), has been filed). Evidently seeking to circumvent that judicial prophylactic, Washington has been filing letter requests for judicial relief of different sorts in a different, and closed, case (Karpf, CV415-068), including one interpreted by the Clerk as a motion for appointment of counsel. CV415-068, doc. 9 ("I think that I am a victim of psychiatric abuse. I need a lawyer."). It has been referred to the undersigned and will now be reached.
See Washington v. Alaimo, 934 F. Supp. 1395, 1400 (S.D. Ga. 1996) (imposing Fed. R. Civ. P. 11 sanctions, including a litigation bond, in response to Washington's vexatious filings and his infamous "motion to kiss my ass"); Washington v. Karpf, CV415-068; Washington v. Chatham County Police Dep't, CV415-005.
Parties should submit to this Court formal complaints, petitions, briefs and motions, not letters. Letters also can get lost, while formal filings are filed in the record of each case. This creates a public record of a matter presented for the Court's consideration. See In Re: Unsolicited Letters to Federal Judges, 126 F. Supp. 2d 1073 (S.D. Ga. 2000). Motions also get placed on the Court's "pending motions" list, while letters do not (hence, they might be ignored). For that matter, the federal rules specifically require that requests for a court order be made "by motion." Fed. R. Civ. P. 7(b)(1).
The motion is an attempted new lawsuit by another name. Washington seeks to challenge, possibly via injunctive relief, forced psychiatric treatment. His cynical attempt to elude the SCM is DENIED. CV415-068, doc. 9. The Clerk is DIRECTED to file all future Washington filings -- whether bearing another case caption or not -- into this, In Re Matthew Washington, MC417-003, miscellaneous file. For record-keeping purposes only, the Clerk shall also file a copy of this Order in the CV415-005 and CV415-068 cases.
SO ORDERED, this 8th day of March, 2017.
/s/_________
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA