C[r]ook County Presiding Law Judge Maddux Denies Access to Courts

Pro se litigants in Chicago who are indigent and file petitions for indigent status to waive filing and copying fees are routinely denied this status illegally by Presiding Law Division Judge Maddux because Judge Maddux wants to inhibit access to courts to whistle blowers, civil rights activists, those filing multiple legitimate suits pro se, and those who have spoken out against corruption in the courts, police, and among elected officials. The courts in C[r]ook County are extremely corrupt.

He never reads the pleadings. His law clerk simply writes "denied due to inability to sue in good faith".

Dorothy Brown, the court clerk refuses to accept complaints unless the judge approves an indigent petition or the plaintiff pays the filing fee.

The law REQUIRES that indigent status be granted if you can prove your assets are less than 125% of the poverty level and your complaint if not frivolous.

735 ILCS 5/5-105 [ILCS = Illinois Compiled Statutes]
"The clerk of the court shall not refuse to accept any complaint, appearance, or other paper presented by the applicant if accompanied by an application to sue or defend in forma pauperis, and those papers shall be considered filed on the date the application is presented."

There is no requirement that the complaint must be approved by the Judge as legitimate. Courts however do have the power to issue sanctions for frivolous repeated suits.

The actions of Judge Maddux and Dorothy Brown in denying access to the courts are clearly illegal.

I invite others to inform me of their similar difficulties and join in a mandamus complaint against Judge Maddux and Clerk Brown to force them to comply with the statutes and IL Supreme Court Rule 298.