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Man sued for $30K over $40 printer he sold on Craigslist

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Re: Man sued for $30K over $40 printer he sold on Craigslist

#91

Post by panglott »

vinay427 wrote: post #25
vinhboy wrote: post #6

> Special Judge J. Jeffrey Edens issued a ruling. He awarded Zavodnik a judgment of $30,044.07 for breach of contract. Holy cow. This guy needs to be fired immediately. That is beyond gross negligence.

To be clear, he ran unopposed in 2012 to win his seat on the circuit court. I don't think he can be "fired," but rather "opposed in the next election so he loses his seat." https://ballotpedia.org/Indiana_judicial_elections,_2012_-_C...

This is the problem with these small, nonpartisan offices. Virtually nobody votes in these elections because very few people can make an informed decision, and those informed few have incentives not to endorse/oppose. If the elections are partisan, voters have more information, but elections will become politicized on abortion/social issues (whether or not the judge can rule on such matters). Even in cases of judicial shenanigans, voters choose based on name recognition and advertising, and the incumbent's advantage is enormous, they run unopposed.

I am strongly pro-voting, but voting for dogcatchers and low-level judges is really bad.

Re: Man sued for $30K over $40 printer he sold on Craigslist

#92

Post by mikestew »

danharaj wrote: post #10
MarlonPro wrote: post #8

I remember what a lawyer said in a case that I served as juror, "the US justice system is not perfect but it's the best justice system in the world."

My friends who have sat on juries and grand juries would gag at that thought. The way criminal trials work for the poor is a sham.

The way criminal trials work for the poor is a sham.

That might be true, but that does not mean that the system referenced isn't the best we've got at the moment.

Re: Man sued for $30K over $40 printer he sold on Craigslist

#94

Post by panglott »

vinceguidry wrote: post #60
fao_ wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with that is that they can sue for assault, intimidation, harassment, or any other valid laws that apply in those circumstances. Thus landing you not only a large lawsuit, but also a possible criminal charge as well. If you want laws against malicious litigation, campaign for them, but intimidating people because you believe the litigation to be malicious is childish at best.

The point of the intimidation is to encourage him to pick softer targets. If he insists on continuing to pick on me, then I will escalate, making his life a living hell. He lives somewhere, he works somewhere, everybody has weak points that you can exploit. Eventually he'll say 'uncle', it's just a matter of when. If he's smart he'll do it before his wife's car reeks of fish. (I will have already 'fished' his car so…

The guy has devoted his life to harassing people through litigation. I assume it's profitable enough to keep him in beer & Skittles. Your plan is to become an even more dedicated troll than he is, but doing direct intimidation and violence instead of legal harassment?

Sounds like a good way to get a felony conviction.

Re: Man sued for $30K over $40 printer he sold on Craigslist

#95

Post by knodi123 »

phil21 wrote: post #52
chasing wrote: post #9

If I'm reading correctly, the key bit is: ----- Because Costello did not respond to all three requests for admissions within 30 days of receiving them, and did not ask for an extension of time, as required by Indiana trial rules, Costello admitted to the liabilities and damages by default. He also did not appear at a July 2013 hearing, according to court records. Costello said he never received the requests for admis…

> If someone sues you and you don't respond, you risk a default judgment against you. There are entire companies set up with the purpose of suing people who don't respond. They purposefully use bad law to operate these mills, and absolutely no one seems to actually care. Google pocket filing[1] if you want to see those that abuse this the most. In my state serving someone (for small claims) is simply tossing a first…

> The latter almost always get away with it, and I've literally recorded them tossing paperwork in the trash without ever knocking on my door while attesting to the court I was properly served

Jesus christ, what kind of life do you lead?!? I'd be terrified to even be served once, let alone to feel it necessary to set up a sting to uncover a conspiracy between process servers and evil litigants. Hope you manage to stay sane and safe!

Re: Man sued for $30K over $40 printer he sold on Craigslist

#97

Post by panglott »

strictnein wrote: post #34
takno wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recall an 8 year stretch during that period when the Republican party held the presidency, and longer periods when they have controlled the house. It doesn't seem to be an especially high priority for them.

The blocker was always the Senate when Republican presidents were in power.

Well, except for 2002-2006 when the Republicans controlled all three branches.

Re: Man sued for $30K over $40 printer he sold on Craigslist

#98

Post by jjnoakes »

jkaunisv1 wrote: post #81
jjnoakes wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When money changes hands, short of using something like cash, how does John Doe remain anonymous? I assume once the matter is in front of a court it is only a matter of time before your identity is readily available. Some form of obfuscating one's name and/or address may raise the bar a bit, but I don't see how this is a solution to the problem of malicious litigation for selling something on craig's list.

Short of using something like cash...for buying something off Craigslist? What else would you use? Why do you make it sound so difficult to use the most easily accessible form of currency around? Joe Craigslist isn't going to have a debit/credit machine for me to pay on. I'm not writing him a personal cheque. Use a burner email, don't give names, meet in a public place..how would you track somebody down like that?

Because buying something online might mean the item has to be shipped? Since buyer and seller may not be able to meet up for some reason? Mailing cash seems like a terrible idea. Do you think we should find a cash escrow service too?

Re: Man sued for $30K over $40 printer he sold on Craigslist

#99

Post by gist »

koolba wrote: post #85
nickff wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that it seems that the judge made the legally correct determination, and that the majority of judges understand that this type of suit is ridiculous, but they have no tools to stop it.

> The problem is that it seems that the judge made the legally correct determination, and that the majority of judges understand that this type of suit is ridiculous, but they have no tools to stop it. If they had the tools to stop it, and chose to use them based on their determination rather than the "rules" (no matter how nonsensical they be), we'd be throwing a fit about activist judges legislating from the bench.…

Perhaps someone could tell me what happens exactly to a judge that goes against the law in a case like this? If it goes to a higher court and what he has done is overturned what is exactly the practical significance of that? In other words the "my hands are tied" how valid is that in terms of what actually does happen as opposed to what theoretically can happen?

Re: Man sued for $30K over $40 printer he sold on Craigslist

#100

Post by knodi123 »

busterarm wrote: post #66

Going to be a bit flippant here, but if I sold somebody a $40 used printer and they mugged me using the courts for $30,000, I would seriously consider murder to be a viable option towards resolution. Good on this guy for keeping his wits about him through all this. Guy probably needs a long, relaxing vacation.

That is a very legitimate and real risk that zavodnik should take into account. If he got a judgment of $600,000 against me, causing me to lose my business and my home... I'd seriously be weighing pros and cons of sacrificing my freedom in order to rid the earth of this scum.
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