Re: The insolence of Office; Hoisting them on their own Petards

On 6 Oct 2003 23:27:28 -0000,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

>Anyone know of any legal treatises or books on how to successfully sue, defeat
>or otherwise cause problems for evil state agencies.

Procedures to "cause problems" for state agencies are also known as
"harrassment," and can lead to fines and other kinds of legal
sanctions.

If you believe that a state agency has made an error of fact or law,
there is usually a remedy, but the remedy will vary from state to
state, and possibly also from agency to agency.

In Pennsylvania, there is a general statute that any person
"aggrieved" by an action of a state agency may appeal to the
Commonwealth Court, and it shouldn't be too difficult to research the
rules of procedure for the Commonwealth Court, as well as the rules of
law that govern under what circumstances the court will reverse an
action of a state agency.

You will probably find it easier to appeal an error of law than an
error of fact.  By an "error of law" I mean that, if you can show that
you should have won under the agency's version of the facts (or under
the undisputed facts), then the dispute is over the application of the
law and not over the facts.

If there is a dispute about the facts, you should pay particular
attention to the standards for appeal.  For example, if the court will
reverse a factual finding only for an "abuse of discretion," then you
are probably going to lose, because it is very difficult to
demonstrate an abuse of discretion.  However, if the court will
reverse if the fact-finding of the agency is "against the weight of
the evidence," then you have a greater chance of success.


**Dan Evans
**I post information, not advice.