Pro Se Empowerment

It sounds good. Pro se empowerment, pro se meaning self represented litigant. And empowerment, meaning, you know, having power. But, how do you get it, and how can someone who is self represented have any power anyway? We all know that the courts, the judges, the lawyers, the police officers, the politicians, the wealthy, and everyone but everyday Joe and Jane are the ones with power. So if we have a court case to fight or defend, how do we obtain any power at all.

First, stand your ground. And I don't mean shoot someone because you can. I mean know your rights and know the authority granting that right. I am not a proponent or follower of any type of anti-government group. I consider sovereign nation groups and the patriot movement as lunatic extremist groups and do not support them in any fashion. I mean, like our past leaders taught us, stand up for the rights that you hold dear. Stand up for your right to free speech, your right to raise your children, your right to own your home. But know well the grounds upon which you stand.

In my work as a document preparer, I hear stories every day. I hear about the court clerk who refused to accept documents for filing; the judge who did not follow the law; and the law enforcement officer who failed to protect and serve. It is our duty as citizens to call out our government officials, police, politicians, judges and clerks when they impose and uphold unjust laws.

In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King wrote, in his famous letter from the Birmingham jail: "One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws." Dr. King taught us to break unjust laws openly and with love, but only after negotiations proved futile.

Henry David Thoreau, in Civil Disobedience wrote:

I heartily accept the motto,—“That government is best which governs least;” and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which I also believe,—“That government is best which governs not at all;” and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient.

—Thoreau,

If you are a citizen, consumer, pro se litigant in the midst of a law suit, whether a divorce, a custody dispute, a foreclosure, or something else, recognize that you are in a battlefield that is not your own. You are in foreign terrain where your opponents will lay traps, and employ trickery and gamesmanship. Beware and be aware.

Rely only on yourself. To transform yourself into a reliable person, learn everything you can. Learn all you can about the rules, laws, procedures, traditions, and argument. Read case law. Case law, precedent, is law just as the statutes are law. Judges must follow case law. If a case in your circuit or appellate court was decided a certain way, and your facts and circumstances are the same, your case should be decided the same way.

• Learn how to read case law.
• Teach yourself.
• Educate yourself.
• Get help if its available.
• Watch your case docket. Check it everyday.
• Take a court reporter to every hearing with you.
• Answer every pleading filed by the other side.
• Persist.
• Learn the rules of courtroom decorum. Dress appropriately every time you go to court.

Empowerment begins when you know that your destiny is in your hands. The world doesn't care. You care about your situation, as do your loved ones. But, that's all. The world in general doesn't care if you win or lose; whether you keep your house or lose it; whether you have custody of your children or you don't; whether you were treated fairly or not.