A unanimous panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has revived a suit against Chief Justice Ronald George over the constitutionality of California's vexatious litigant statute.
The decision overturns U.S. District Judge Saundra Armstrong, who had tossed the case. The suit alleges the statute violates the First Amendment and equal protection and due process clauses.
Although the panel agreed with the lower court that George and other judges sued have judicial immunity, it ruled that the chief is not shielded from litigation over actions he takes as an administrator.
The litigant in question, 73-year-old Burton Wolfe, is a longtime alternative journalist and author in San Francisco. In 1968, he published a book about hippies and later wrote a biography of Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey. Wolfe now runs a Web site -- www.burtonhwolfe.com -- where he fumes about everything from the "fraud" of Christianity to the demise of the alternative press and the plight of pro se litigants.
A self-proclaimed "public interest litigator," Wolfe has filed dozens of suits in San Francisco Superior Court over everything from noise in his neighborhood to discount cards at a local camera store, according to court records.
I'll drink to that. Details here from The Recorder via Law.com. Or read the Ninth Circuit's opinion for yourself.