Self-Representation in Court
The Challenges Faced by Thomas Van Orden
In January 2002, Thomas Van Orden filed suit against a handful of Texas officials, alleging that a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the State Capitol violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. While very few cases surmount the numerous obstacles and pass through the countless procedural hoops necessary to reach the highest court in the land, the suit brought by Van Orden is particularly rare and remarkable. First, there were Van Orden’s personal circumstances: homeless, destitute, a former lawyer with a law license that was suspended more than a decade earlier. To file his lawsuit, Van Orden…
