holding that “[t]he Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure have been promulgated for the specific purpose of giving fair and reasonable notice to all parties of the appropriate procedural standards” and limiting the amount of direction courts are required to give pro se litigants
How later courts described this case
- holding that “[t]he Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure have been promulgated for the specific purpose of giving fair and reasonable notice to all parties of the appropriate procedural standards” and limiting the amount of direction courts are required to give pro se litigants
- holding that motion in opposition to motion for summary judgment filed without supporting affidavits triggers need for instructions from court, but failure to file "even a defective motion" does not trigger same duty
- explaining that court’s assistance to self-represented litigants must be limited so as not to “compromise the court’s impartiality” and result in court “act[ing] as an advocate for one side”
- asserting that Civil Rules were "promulgated for the specific purpose of giving fair and reasonable notice to all parties of the appropriate procedural standards that should be uniformly applied when any party, including a pro se litigant, seeks relief in [civil litigation]," and advising that [a
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
RABINO WITZ, Justice,
dissenting.
I disagree with the majority’s holding that the superior court “was under no duty to warn the Baumans and R.J.W. of the necessity of opposing the defendants’ motion for summary judgment.”
In Breck v. Ulmer, 745 P.2d 66 (Alaska 1987), we said in part:
We agree with Breck [a pro se plaintiff in a civil action, just like Bauman] that the pleadings of pro se litigants should be held to less stringent standards than those of lawyers. See Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519, 520 , 92 S.Ct. 594, 595 , 30 L.Ed.2d 652, 654 (1972) (per curiam). In this regard we note that several courts have explicitly imposed a duty on the trial judge to advise a pro se litigant of his or her right under the summary judgment rule to file opposing affidavits to defeat a motion for summary judgment. See Hudson v. Hardy, 412 F.2d 1091, 1094 (D.C.Cir.1968) (per curiam); Roseboro v. Garrison, 528 F.2d 309, 310 (4th Cir.1975) (per curiam). Likewise, we believe the trial judge should inform a pro se litigant of the proper procedure for the action he or she is obviously attempting to accomplish; here Breck should *1102 have been advised of the necessity of submitting affidavits to preclude summary judgment, and of the possibility of amending her complaint.
Id. at 75 (emphasis added). See also Note, An Extension of the Right of Access: The Pro Se Litigant’s Right to Notification of the Requirements of the Summary Judgment Rule, 55 Fordham L.Rev. 1109 (1987) (authored by Joseph M. McLaughlin); Jacobsen v. Filler, 790 F.2d 1362, 1367-70 (9th Cir.1986) (Reinhardt, J., dissenting).
In light of the above quoted portion of the Breck text, I am not persuaded that Breck is distinguishable on the grounds that the Baumans “failed to submit even a defective motion in opposition to the defendants’ motion for summary judgment.” Nor can I agree that the trial court’s impartiality is compromised by a requirement that the court inform a pro se litigant of the right under Civil Rule 56 to oppose a summary judgment motion.