Rivard v. Vermont Department of Corrections

What the court wrote

Verbatim from the court's document (public domain). Ellipses mark omitted text; nothing is paraphrased.

Plaintiff has himself been admonished by the Court for citing non-existent authority. In his brief, plaintiff cited several purported decisions of this Court, including “Slayton v. Willing, 2010 VT 56, ¶ 14, 188 Vt. 216, 4 A.3d 1155,” “Sorrell v. Wigginton, 154 Vt. 301, 303 (1990),” “Morrison v. City of Montpelier, 2011 VT 9, ¶ 10,” “Thrall v. Rowan, 161 Vt. 451, 456 (1994),” and “EcoScience Corp. v. United States, 156 Vt. 185, 193 (1991),” among others. The Vermont Reports citations provided by plaintiff correspond to entirely different opinions than those named. We were unable to identify any existing case that corresponds to the citations provided in plaintiff's brief. ... Plaintiff's misrepresentation of the record extends to asserting that documents and records contain quotations that simply are not there. ... Plaintiff's practice of citing to non-existent authority and misrepresenting the contents of court records is a waste of limited judicial resources, a waste of the resources of opposing parties and further evidence of his disrespect for the courts of this State. ... Defendant's Motion for Sanctions (# 7) is GRANTED. Plaintiff is hereby ENJOINED from filing any new actions in the Civil Division of the Vermont Superior Court without obtaining prior leave from the court.

Authorities cited in the passage: Slayton v. Willing, 2010 VT 56 · Sorrell v. Wigginton, 154 Vt. 301 (1990) · Morrison v. City of Montpelier, 2011 VT 9 · Thrall v. Rowan, 161 Vt. 451 (1994) · EcoScience Corp. v. United States, 156 Vt. 185 (1991) · V.R.C.P. 11 · V.R.A.P. 25