U.S. District Court for Guam Chief Judge Frances M. Tydingco-Gatewood also prohibited John S. Pangelinan from filing “any complaint, motion, petition, notice or other paper or document, however styled, that is related in any way to District Court of the Northern Mariana Islands Civil Action or any of the Northern Mariana Islands District Court cases unless such filing is accompanied by a motion requesting permission to file the document; a copy of this entire order; proof that all monetary sanctions previously imposed by a judge of this court in any of the matters mentioned in this order to which he was or is a party have been paid in full; cash in an amount equal to the full filing fee if Pangelinan seeks to file a new complaint; and the original and two copies of the document sought to be filed.”
Tydingco-Gatewood said any attempted filing by Pangelinan will be received but not filed by the clerk of court and delivered to a judge for review and a determination if the proposed filing violates the terms and conditions of this order.
She said if the filing is deemed to violate her order, a miscellaneous file will be opened and Pangelinan’s proposed filing and an order prohibiting will be placed in the file which will then be closed.
If the filing is deemed not to violate this order, and all filing fees have been paid, a civil file will be opened and Pangelinan may proceed, the judge said in her order on Tuesday.
According to the judge, Pangelinan’s history of “repeated frivolous and vexatious litigation and bad-faith filings, his intentional and willfull decision to disobey the valid orders of this court, and his avowed intention to continue in this course of action, leads the court ineluctably to conclude that no other sanction but a narrowly drawn pre-filing order will be adequate to protect the court and other parties from Pangelinan’s relentless assaults.”
Tydingco-Gatewood said during the course of Pangelinan’s various lawsuits, he has forced Judges Alex R. Munson and David A. Wiseman to recuse themselves by naming them as defendants.
Pangelinan also sued a former Superior Court judge who was at the time assigned to sit in this court and who handled a part of the litigation, a law clerk, at least two assistant U.S. attorneys, at least two deputy U.S. Marshals and two probation officers.
Tydingco-Gatewood said Pangelinan’s “intention is and has been clearly to cripple the functioning of this court by suing its judge, assigned judges, court staff and support personnel.”
She added, “The effect of his frivolous lawsuits has had an impact on this court much greater than it would on a larger court with more resources. For me to travel to Saipan and return to Guam takes a full day from my calendar. The two Superior Court judges have their own busy calendars to address. Given these realities, Pangelinan’s actions have clearly caused and will continue to cause if not abated, needless work and expense to not only the court and its staff but to any other party who has incurred his wrath.”
