TaiLexi AI U.S. Case Law

Sherman H. Skolnick v. Albert E. Hallett and Harry G. Fins

Sherman H. SKOLNICK, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Albert E. HALLETT and Harry G. Fins, Defendants-Appellees

Skolnick v. Hallett, 350 F.2d 861 (7th Cir. 1965)
Download
Format
Include

Star paging (*137) is kept for pin cites.

Court
Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · U.S. Courts of Appeals
Decided
July 14, 1965
Docket
No. 14779
Judges
Castle, Duffy, Per Curiam, Schnackenberg
Citations
350 F.2d 8611965 U.S. App. LEXIS 4906

Opinion — Per Curiam

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiff has appeared pro se throughout this litigation including the presenting of the oral argument.

Defendant Hallett is a judge of the Circuit Court for Cook County, Illinois. Defendant Harry G. Fins is a long-time member of the Illinois Bar with offices in the city of Chicago, Illinois.

Plaintiff’s complaint charges that defendants conducted a “kangaroo court” with him as a victim. Plaintiff complains that in a state court proceeding, the defendants intimidated and slandered him.

The basis for many of the charges against defendants is that Judge Hallett had no jurisdiction to hold court on April 14, 1964, which was primary election day in Cook County, Illinois. Plaintiff was wrong in this assumption. Ill.Rev.Stats.1963, Chap. 46, Sections 2-12 and 17-25. Richter v. Chicago & Erie Railroad Co., 273 Ill. 625 , 113 N.E. 153 .

The District Court found and held that the complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, and should be dismissed.

The District Court also found and held the complaint was replete with scurrilous, offensive • and objectionable allegations principally leveled at Judge Hallett, and should not be permitted to remain of record.

We agree that the complaint did not state a claim upon which relief could be granted, and under Rule 12(f) of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the District Court was fulljr warranted in striking the complaint.

There is a marked similarity between the complaint in this case and the complaint in No. 14878, Peter S. Sarelas v. John J. Lupe. From the record in this case it appears that Sarelas has acted as attorney for plaintiff. In case No. 14878, the charge was that state court Judge Lupe had held a “kangaroo court.” Many paragraphs of the complaint in Sarelas are identical or substantially identical with paragraphs in the complaint in the case at bar. The Sarelas case was affirmed from the bench on May 25, 1965.

The complaint in the instant case is entirely without merit.

The judgment of the District Court is Affirmed.

How later courts describe this case

Explanatory parentheticals written by citing courts — 2 in all; the most informative distinct ones are shown.

Cited by 12 cases

View all citing references →
1972: 11975: 11978: 21979: 11980: 11988: 11989: 12002: 12025: 12026: 219722026peak 1978 · 2

Relies on it most ⓘ

  1. Roger Asay v. Hallmark Cards, Inc.594 F.2d 692 (8th Cir. 1979)
  2. Carone v. Whalen121 F.R.D. 231 (M.D. Penn. 1988)
  3. Rafael M. Bertucelli v. Gerald F467 F.2d 214 (9th Cir. 1972)
  4. Curve Elementary School Parent & Teacher's Organization v. Lauderdale County School Board608 S.W.2d 855 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1980)
  5. Ex parte Tyler70 F.R.D. 456 (E.D. Mo. 1975)
  6. Moody v. Smith (In re Moody)105 B.R. 368 (S.D. Tex. 1989)

Most recent

  1. Geneva Langworthy v. Edward AlconNo. 1:24-cv-01291 (D.N.M. Sept. 18, 2026)
  2. Daneshwar Persaud v. University of Rhode IslandNo. 1:25-cv-00307 (D.R.I. June 26, 2026)
  3. Langworthy v. AlconNo. 1:24-cv-01291 (D.N.M. Jan. 8, 2025)
  4. Guzzino v. United States37 F. App'x 199 (7th Cir. 2002)
  5. Moody v. Smith (In re Moody)105 B.R. 368 (S.D. Tex. 1989)
  6. Carone v. Whalen121 F.R.D. 231 (M.D. Penn. 1988)

Citing references are not a citator: they show that a later opinion cites this case, not whether it followed, distinguished, or overruled it. Check negative history before relying on this case.

Authorities cited 1

DepthCaseCited by
Richter v. Chicago & Erie R.R., 273 Ill. 625 (1916) 14

Keyboard shortcuts

/Focus the search box
j kNext / previous result
EnterOpen the selected result
xAdd / remove the selected result from the download list
n pNext / previous search term in a case
cCopy the citation of the current case
+ −Larger / smaller reading text
?Show this list