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SOUTHEAST TEXAS RECORD

Thursday, March 28, 2024

East Texas district judge chastises man for filing frivolous lawsuits

Judge David Folsom

TEXARKANA, Texas-Federal judges from the Eastern District of Texas have repeatedly told 67-year-old Cordell Moody that he cannot file lawsuits without permission of the court and he cannot ask permission without first paying past due sanctions.

But that hasn't stopped Moody, who says he will continue to file lawsuits "to the end of the world."

U.S. District Judge David Folsom dismissed Moody's most recent lawsuit, which he filed pro se, stating Moody does not have a legal claim. In the lawsuit, Moody sued four individuals alleging, among other things, that the defendant's dog attacked him.

Moody states the defendant refused to pay his medical bills and argues that the dog's owners and friends stalk and harass him. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven recommended the complaint to be dismissed as frivolous, but Moody objected stating he should not be held to the same standards as a practicing lawyer.

Moody believes federal judges are prejudiced and fear his "legal work skills."

Also in his objection, Moody alleges in detail how he believes the city jails, courthouses, city halls and hospitals are infested with deadly black mold. He notes that he might file his next lawsuit against tobacco companies in an effort to have the companies condemned and stopped from production.

The objections were denied and the lawsuit dismissed on March 22.

The lawsuit was filed a few months after the court explained to Moody how he is barred from filing lawsuits in the Eastern District of Texas without permission, a sanction Moody was given after he sued Dairy Queen for not delivering his tacos fast enough.

The lawsuit was briefly allowed to proceed as Moody filed the case in county court, where he had not previously been sanctioned. Dairy Queen removed the case to federal court.

In that lawsuit, Moody wrote that he was discriminated against because of his race by not being served his tacos as quickly as the people in the drive through.

Assuming Moody's allegations were true and that Dairy Queen's service was slow, the federal judge noted that slow service does not rise to the level of violating someone's civil rights. The case was dismissed and he was prohibited from proceeding with any civil action in the federal court even if the case was filed in another court and transferred.

According to Judge Folsom, Moody has filed more than a dozen cases in the Eastern District of Texas and other federal courts. Moody states he started filing lawsuits in the 1960s and will continue even if the lawsuits put him in jail.

Moody bragged that one lawsuit was written on toilet paper after jail officials took away his paper. He states the lawsuit can still be found in the court's files on the original toilet paper.

Moody was first told he was not allowed to file lawsuits in federal court in 1993. Several of his cases have been appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, who has upheld the dismissal of the complaints as frivolous.

The monetary sanctions against Moody are less than $225 a case and Moody has paid some of the fines.

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