Posner Back on Track in Pro Se Case

By William Vogeler, Esq. on October 20, 2017 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Richard Posner, now a retired and controversial jurist, is back in court.

When Posner suddenly quit the federal court of appeals, court watchers wondered why. Then he self-published a book that left no question: he was disillusioned with the judiciary.

One critic called it a trainwreck, but whatever. Now the judge is back on track and on a mission.

"Advisory Counsel"

Posner wants to represent a pro se litigant as advisory counsel in a case before the U.S Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

"I have decided to dedicate my post-judicial career to helping pro se litigants," he said in a motion to the court.

William C. Bond, the self-represented petitioner, is suing government officials in a Maryland federal district court, alleging they violated his First Amendment rights by spying on him. He said it was "provable corruption" in the courthouse.

If Posner wanted a showcase for his own complaints about the judiciary, he picked a deusy. Bond alleges that three federal judges conspired to throw his case and misused federal agents against him.

In his declaration to the Fourth Circuit, Posner said the petitioner was "very capable in many ways, very diligent, very focused, a very good writer of legal documents."

Posner, himself, left a library of well-written opinions at the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. He spent more than 35 years there, prior to his time as a professor at the University of Chicago Law School.

Known for calling "bullshit" when he sees it, Posner has also been called "one of the most entertaining judges in U.S. history."

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