CARPENTER

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

IN RE: DAVID CARPENTER, :

: CIVIL ACTION NO. 21-822

Plaintiff. :

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Smith, J. November 29, 2021

The pro se plaintiff in this case has continually abused judicial process by repeatedly

dumping numerous documents (consisting of photocopies or printouts from the Internet) on this

court and by failing to either pay the filing fee or seeking leave to proceed in forma pauperis. All

the plaintiff’s submissions fail to follow the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. In addition, he has

inundated the undersigned’s chambers with hundreds of e-mail messages.

Based on this continuous improper behavior, the court ordered the plaintiff to show cause

why the court should not enter a pre-filing injunction against him to prevent him from future non-

compliance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. In response to this order, all the plaintiff

has done is continue to submit these random photocopies and Internet printouts and send random

emails to the undersigned’s chambers.

As explained below, an injunction is necessary to prevent the plaintiff’s continual abuse of

the judicial process. Therefore, the court will enjoin the plaintiff from filing any further papers in

non-habeas corpus cases in this court (1) that are captioned with the names of other courts, (2) that

are not hand-signed in compliance with Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and (3)

for case-initiating documents, for which he has failed to pay the required fees or sought leave to

proceed in forma pauperis.

I. CARPENTER’S LITIGATION HISTORY IN THIS COURT

In less than a year, the pro se plaintiff, David Carpenter (“Carpenter”), has dumped

thousands of pages of random documents upon this court. Carpenter’s first document dump

occurred on December 30, 2020, when he sent an approximately 2,594-page document to the clerk

of court. See In re David Carpenter, Civ. A. No. 20-6594, Doc. Nos. 1, 2. The clerk of court

docketed the first 2,570 of these pages as a complaint, see id., Doc. No. 1, and the additional 24

pages as exhibits, see id., Doc. No. 2.1 While less than clear, it appears from these approximately

2,600 pages of documents that Carpenter was still troubled by a failed purchase of residential real

estate in the City of Lancaster in 2017.

Despite Carpenter’s apparent dissatisfaction with what occurred with respect to this failed

real estate purchase, he did not include a single document in his voluminous submission that states

this claim to the court. In other words, there was no original document where he actually stated his

claim, to the extent he was actually stating a claim for relief. Instead, the documents Carpenter

submitted consist of mostly photocopies and printouts from the Internet. None contain a signature

as required by Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.2

Regarding Carpenter’s documents, in some instances he appears to have cut out names and

pictures of various individuals and pasted them to pieces of paper. See, e.g., id., Doc. No. 1-33 at

ECF p. 1; Doc. No. 1-8 at ECF p. 1; Doc. No. 1-18 at ECF pp. 1–12. He also includes hundreds of

1 The clerk of court separately docketed 24 pages as exhibits even though they appeared in the same disorganized

format as Carpenter’s other submissions. The court notes that the clerk of court docketed the first 2,570 pages as a

complaint in an abundance of caution and as required by Rule 5 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. See Fed. R.

Civ. P. 5(d)(4) (“The clerk must not refuse to file a paper solely because it is not in the form prescribed by these rules

or by a local rule or practice.”).

2 The purpose of a signature is to attest that the submission is not being presented for any improper purpose, such as

to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase the cost of litigation; the claims and other legal contentions

are warranted by existing law or for establishing new law; and the factual contentions have evidentiary support or, if

specifically so identified, will likely have evidentiary support after a reasonable opportunity for further investigation

or discovery. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 11.

pages of website profiles (including copies of the same profiles) of attorneys and other

professionals. See, e.g., id., Doc. No. 1-8 at ECF pp. 5–14, 16–25 (identical copies of firm profiles

of Marc A. Scaringi, Esquire). He further includes, inter alia, (1) numerous copies of letters he

sent and received from various entities and individuals, see, e.g., id., Doc. No. 1-13 at ECF pp.

36–38, 58–60, 64–66, 67–69 (four copies of June 13, 2017 letter from Don H. Hess, Esquire, to

Carpenter, relating to representation agreement); Doc. No. 1-32 at ECF pp. 65–67 (copy of same

letter); Doc. No. 1 at ECF pp. 26–28, 52–54 (copies of same letter); (2) copies of complaints and

correspondence between Carpenter and various disciplinary boards, including the Disciplinary

Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and copies of profiles of attorneys contained on the

Disciplinary Board’s website, see, e.g., id., Doc. No. 1-22 at ECF pp. 2–5 (October 2020 complaint

Carpenter filed with Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and copy of website

profile of Angela Marie Ward, Esquire); Doc. No. 1-11 at ECF pp. 1–4 (September 2020 letter

from Office of Disciplinary Counsel to Carpenter); (3) hundreds of pages of e-mail

correspondence, see, e.g., id., Doc. No. 1-27 at ECF pp. 1–150; (4) copies of text message strings,

see, e.g., id., Doc. No. 1-1 at ECF pp. 6–22, 35–44, 50–61; and (5) tens of blank pages, see, e.g.,

id., Doc. No. 1-1 at ECF pp. 45–49; Doc. No. 1-2 at ECF pp. 1–12. All these documents are in no

discernable order. Additionally, none contain the court’s caption.

Carpenter failed to pay the filing fee or apply for leave to proceed in forma pauperis.

Because he failed to pay the fee or apply for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, along with the

failure of his submission to comply with Rules 3, 8, or 10 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,

this court entered an order on January 26, 2021, which dismissed this action without prejudice.3

Jan. 26, 2021 Order, id., Doc. No. 5.

On February 3, 2021, the clerk of court docketed another submission by Carpenter as a

complaint. See In re: David B. Carpenter, Civ. A. No. 21-606, Doc. No. 1. This submission

consisted of 36 pages which again appeared to be copies of documents Carpenter submitted at

Civil Action No. 20-6594. See generally id. As with this prior case, Carpenter did not pay the filing

fee or apply for leave to proceed in forma pauperis. And, as with the prior case, this court entered

an order dismissing the case for Carpenter’s failure to pay the fee or apply for leave to proceed in

forma pauperis, and for his failure to submit a complaint that remotely complied with the Federal

Rules of Civil Procedure. See Feb. 11, 2021 Order, id., Doc. No. 3.

Not thwarted from these two dismissals, Carpenter commenced his most recent barrage of

document dumps via an 88-page document he submitted to the clerk of court on February 22, 2021,

which the clerk again docketed as a complaint. See Doc. No. 1. As even the most cursory review

of Carpenter’s submission demonstrates, this was yet again Carpenter just submitting copies of

documents with none of them having any characteristics of a complaint.4 See id. Since Carpenter’s

3 Prior to the court dismissing this action, Carpenter submitted 124 additional pages of random documents that the

clerk of court docketed on January 12, 2021. See Doc. No. 4. Most, if not all, of these documents are copies of

documents he already submitted to the court.

4 Interestingly, some of the documents Carpenter included in this filing show that this court is not the first place where

Carpenter has practiced document dumping. See, e.g., Doc. No. 1 at ECF p. 14 (October 29, 2020 letter from Thomas

J. Farrell, Chief Disciplinary Counsel for the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, where it

states: “Over the last two years, my office has received 20 complaints which you have filed, 18 in the last month. In

addition, you have deposited with us stacks of unorganized documents that appear to be requests that we open

additional cases.”); id. at ECF p. 16 (August 11, 2020 letter from Anthony P. Sodroski, Disciplinary Counsel-in-

Charge for the Pennsylvania Office of Disciplinary Counsel, where it states: “Since June 28, 2020, you have submitted

to this office, by facsimile transmission and mail, hundreds of pages of documents, many of which are available on

the internet and some of which are duplicates. Most recently, we received three USPS Priority Mail shipments on

August 5, 2020, and USPS Prior Mail deliveries on August 6, 7 and 10, 2020.”); id. at ECF p. 18 (July 24, 2020 letter

from Christopher M. Patterson and Gabriella Hashem Farhat of Pyfer, Reese, Straub, Gray & Farhat PC, where it

states: “For the last several weeks, you have been dropping materials off at the front door to my office. I don’t know

why you are doing this. I do not represent you and to my knowledge have no connection with you or the matters to

which the materials pertain.”); id. at ECF p. 33 (January 8, 2021 letter from the Office of the Clerk for the United

States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, wherein it states: “We are in receipt of numerous

documents sent by you via the US Postal Service to this office. You do not have a case pending in this court.”).

submission yet again failed to comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and he yet again

failed to pay the filing fee or apply for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, the court entered an

order dismissing the action on February 26, 2021. See Doc. No. 3.

Subsequent to this dismissal order, the clerk of court docketed a 45-page document from

Carpenter.5 See Doc. No. 4. Carpenter then filed a 32-page document that the clerk of court

docketed on March 19, 2021. See Doc. No. 5. He then filed a 1,165-page “exhibit” and a 145-page

“exhibit,” which the clerk of court docketed on September 2, 2021, and September 13, 2021,

respectively. See Doc. Nos. 7, 9. These submissions had the same characteristics as every other

document dump in this case, namely, they are merely random photocopies (some indecipherable)

and Internet printouts.

Given that Carpenter had demonstrated a continuing pattern of failing to adhere to the

requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the court entered an order on September 14,

2021, requiring Carpenter to show cause why the court should not enter a pre-filing injunction to

prevent his future non-compliance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.6 See Doc. No. 8.

Since the entry of that order to show cause, Carpenter has filed a 147-page “exhibit,” a 104-page

“exhibit,” and a 68-page “exhibit,” which the clerk of court docketed on September 27, 2021,

October 19, 2021, and October 20, 2021, respectively. See Doc. Nos. 10–12.

II. DISCUSSION

A district court may enjoin “abusive, groundless and vexatious conduct” pursuant to 28

U.S.C. § 1651(a), the All Writs Act. Brown v. Farrelly, 994 F.2d 1027, 1038 (3d Cir. 1993). This

5 Apparently, the clerk’s office had received this document on February 23, 2021, but did not docket it until March 1,

2021.

6 Although Carpenter is pro se, he must still comply with the rules applicable to all litigants in federal court. See

generally Vogt v. Wetzel, 8 F.4th 182, 185 (3d Cir. 2021) (stating that pro se litigants must still allege sufficient facts

in complaints to support a claim); Siluk v. Beard, 395 F. App’x 817, 820 (3d Cir. 2010) (“[W]hile courts have a special

obligation to construe the pleadings of pro se litigants liberally, the right of self-representation does not exempt a party

from compliance with relevant rules of procedural law.” (internal citation omitted)).

“broad scope of . . . power . . . is limited by two fundamental tenets of our legal system-the litigant’s

rights to due process and access to the courts.” Id. Because of the importance of these rights, a

district court may only issue an injunction if three requirements are satisfied: “(1) the litigant must

be continually abusing the judicial process; (2) the litigant must be given notice of the potential

injunction and an opportunity to oppose the court’s order; and (3) the injunction must be narrowly

tailored to fit the specific circumstances of the case.” Holman v. Hooten, Civ. A. No. 11-78, 2015

WL 3798473, at *7 (E.D. Pa. June 17, 2015) (quoting Grossberger v. Ruane, 535 F. App’x 84, 86

(3d Cir. 2013) (per curiam)); see also Abdul-Akbar v. Watson, 901 F.2d 329, 332 (3d Cir. 1990)

(noting that pre-filing injunction is “an extreme remedy that must be narrowly tailored and

sparingly used”). While “pro se litigants are not entitled to special treatment,” Brown v. City of

Philadelphia, Civ. A. Nos. 05-4160, 06-2496, 06-5408, 08-3369, 2009 WL 1011966, at *15 (E.D.

Pa. Apr. 14, 2009), the use of a pre-filing injunction against a pro se litigant “must be approached

with caution.” Grossberger, 535 F. App’x at 86 (citing In re Oliver, 682 F.2d 443, 445 (3d Cir.

1982)).

Here, Carpenter has shown a pattern of emailing papers to the undersigned or mailing and

emailing documents to the clerk of court at the address established for unrepresented litigants to

permit those litigants a means of filing other than through mail or in person. That email address

was established as an accommodation to the disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus

pandemic. No paper Carpenter has emailed to the clerk of court using that email address is

captioned with the name of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of

Pennsylvania. Rather, every submission is comprised solely of random, (occasionally

indecipherable) photocopies and Internet printouts and do not relate events over which this court

may exercise subject-matter jurisdiction, or over which venue is correct, or both.

Carpenter continues to send material to this court’s email address and the email address of

the undersigned for no apparent reason associated with the business of this court. Nonetheless,

pursuant to Rule 5 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the clerk of court may not refuse to file

a paper solely because it is not in the form prescribed by the Federal Rules. Consequently, while

it might take Carpenter a single keystroke to email his documents to whomever he may choose,

when he emails documents to a federal court, his actions have serious financial, staffing, and

resource allocation implications for the court. For these reasons, Carpenter was ordered to show

cause why he should not be enjoined from filing any further papers that are unsigned and not

captioned for this court and, when those documents are initial pleadings that the clerk of court

would otherwise be obligated to docket as a new case, that are unaccompanied by either the

applicable fees or an application for leave to proceed in forma pauperis.

Since the entry of the show cause order, Carpenter has filed a series of additional

documents via e-mail to the clerk of court. The court has treated these documents as responses to

the show cause order. These “responses” are in the same form as every other Carpenter submission,

i.e. they are comprised of random photocopies and Internet printouts; they are not captioned with

the name of this court; and they are unsigned. More importantly, they contain no narrative

explanation to show cause why the court should not enter a pre-filing injunction against Carpenter.

To the contrary, having been placed on notice that an injunction was contemplated, Carpenter

continued to engage in the same behavior that prompted the court’s show cause order. This

indicates that he did not take seriously the impact of his litigation activity on scarce judicial

resources. As such, the court concludes that he has failed to offer any explanation why he should

not be enjoined from continuing that behavior.

III. CONCLUSION

Finding that Carpenter has failed to show good cause why the court should not enter a pre-

filing injunction, the court enjoins him from filing any further papers in this court, whether sent to

the clerk of court or to the email address of the undersigned, (1) that are not captioned with the

name of this court, (2) that are not hand-signed in compliance with Rule 11 of the Federal Rules

of Civil Procedure, and (3) for case-initiating documents, for which he has failed to pay the

required fees or moved for leave to proceed in forma pauperis. This injunction is appropriate since

Carpenter has continually abused the judicial process, has been afforded notice of the potential

injunction, and been afforded an opportunity to oppose the court’s order. The injunction is

narrowly tailored to fit the specific circumstances of this case since Carpenter is not prevented

from filing hand-signed papers captioned for this court in cases actually pending in the United

States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and, if he wishes to file a new civil

action, from doing so by submitting hand-signed papers captioned for this court and by paying the

filing fee or seeking leave to proceed in forma pauperis. The clerk of court shall refuse to accept

any non-conforming submissions and instead return them to Carpenter. The clerk of court may

also accept for filing a notice of appeal of this order.7

The court will enter a separate order.

BY THE COURT:

/s/ Edward G. Smith

EDWARD G. SMITH, J.

7 Carpenter is placed on notice that continuing to email the undersigned’s chambers is a violation of this injunction

and may subject him to contempt of court charges.