Some states – Texas, California, Idaho and Nevada, for example – have enacted laws that have created publicly accessible lists of pro se litigants who have been determined by the courts to be abusive / vexatious and who have pre-filing restrictions or injunctions placed against them in which sua sponte judicial review is required before those litigants can file any additional pro se lawsuits. These lists are accessible not only to the public but for the court clerks to access. Once an abusive / vexatious pro se litigant is placed on such a list it is very difficult, if not impossible, for them to obtain permission from a judge to file pro se any additional lawsuits.
Every state should enact laws requiring state-run websites to publish publicly accessible lists of abusive / vexatious litigants that have pre-filing restrictions ordered against them, whether such litigants were pro se or were represented by attorneys. The federal court system should also be mandated by Congress to publish a website that has state and federal lists of every abusive / vexatious litigant in every state and U.S. territory – again, whether litigants deemed abusive / vexatious filed their lawsuits with or without an attorney. State and federal court clerks should then be required as part of their duties to confirm whether any plaintiff – pro se or represented by an attorney – is on such a list so as to require the abusive / vexatious litigant to obtain sua sponte judicial approval/review of any intended lawsuits before such lawsuits can be given case numbers and before defendants are notified or served.
