A couple weeks back, Richard Luthmann and I invited Missouri attorney Matt Grant onto The Unknown to discuss a landmark civil RICO lawsuit he filed against the St. Louis family court system.
I called it a landmark civil RICO lawsuit in part because I investigated that courthouse for a year in 2021. Some of my work was cited in the lawsuit.
The Zoom conference I released in 2021 of thirty-eight corrupt guardian ad litem (GAL) from St. Louis County was cited as well.
“This threatens to take down the entire system,” said corrupt GAL Sarah Pleban thirty-two minutes into the video about another lawsuit filed by Evita Tolu, “judges are in on it.”
Matt’s lawsuit seemed to forward these themes.
RICO, or Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, attacks organized crime, which many believe family court to be.
But there were problems as well. It went on for nearly fifty pages with background that had little to do with the facts of his case besides attempting to show how widespread the corruption was.
He filed charges against people with near bullet proof immunity- judges and GALs- arguing little more than orders that didn’t go his way. (Fenley and Hilton are the GAL and judge on his case)
Matt offered us vague assurances that longstanding doctrines like judicial immunity, Rooker-Feldman, and others would be addressed when they are cited when Richard and I interviewed him.
I even asked him about his assertion in the lawsuit that the federal court should remove the entire 21st Judicial Circuit- St. Louis County- and where a federal court would get the power to remove state judges, most of whom are elected.
Matt told us he didn’t make this request, despite it being in his lawsuit.
Before any defendants could respond, Judge Joshua Divine, a Trump appointee, didn’t wait, and he issued a scathing five-page order which not only threatens dismissal but sanctions.
Judge Divine noted multiple times that though Matt was representing himself he had touted his legal experience and acumen. As such, he would be given no breaks, “The Court finally notes that Grant is an attorney and will not be given the leniency afforded pro se plaintiffs. As stated in his complaint, Grant is ‘a Missouri licensed attorney and litigation specialist who worked at one of the 100 largest firms in the country,’ and he repeatedly touts his legal credentials not just in court but in this Court. Grant, more than most, is expected to comply with the rules.”
Judge Divine found that Matt sued entities which enjoyed complete immunity, “The complaint, for example, sues the State of Missouri, which enjoys sovereign immunity—the ‘privilege . . . not to be sued without its consent.’ Va. Off. for Prot. & Advocacy v. Stewart, 563 U.S. 247, 253 (2011). Grant tries to dispense with this issue by noting that he seeks only injunctive relief against the State, not damages. But the typical way to do that (and thus evade sovereign immunity) is to sue a state official, not the State itself.”
He sues judges, Judge Divine found, for their orders, despite judges having complete immunity from lawsuit for in court activity, “Similarly, the complaint appears to include a collateral attack against a state-court judgment. But federal courts generally are prohibited from hearing cases ‘brought by state-court losers complaining of injuries caused by state-court judgments.’ Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Indus. Corp., 544 U.S. 280, 284 (2005). Grant offers no affirmative argument for why this doctrine should not apply.”
Matt violated rules requiring brevity, precision, and clarity.
His lawsuit was “scattershot,” Judge Divine wrote.
Judge Divine addressed Grant’s unprecedented request to remove all 21st Circuit Judges, “The complaint also seeks unprecedented relief—removing state judges from the bench and disbarring them—yet makes no attempt to explain how this Court has authority to issue such an extraordinary order.”
Judge Divine gave Matt until September 15 to fix the lawsuit or face dismissal and sanctions.
In response, Matt stated by email, “No new concerns. This proves a lot to me.”
He’ll have to do a lot better in his response.
Check out the full episode below.
