Arkansas Judge Susan Weaver’s Poker Face

There is a small scrap of paper next to my keyboard that says “Be A Word Warrior.”

Law is language based.

But communication is so much more.

Communication is tone of voice. Cadence. Facial expressions. Body language.

Yesterday in court, Judge Susan Kaye Weaver expressed herself with non-verbal communication, loud and clear.

I don’t need to speculate about whether the non-verbal communication was purposeful or involuntary tells.

The message was the same.

Pro se litigants are not welcome in what Judge Weaver refers to as her courtroom.

Yesterday was my first observation of Judge Weaver working on someone else’s case. The three hearings in my cases in front of Judge Weaver were scheduled with no other cases heard that day. Judge Weaver was a scowling, bitter woman to me at each event and friendly to opposing counsel.

Yesterday, I went to observe a disabled pro se litigant attempt to gain the court’s assistance in proving or disproving that US Bank illegally confiscated the litigant’s money.

There were two other matters argued by attorneys before the one with the unrepresented party.

At first, the judge looked gentle and kind. She smiled and even laughed with the attorneys. I thought Judge Weaver had a change of heart, perhaps a religious awakening. But I experienced cognitive dissonance. My appellate brief of her ludicrous and probably illegal orders against me was filed November 2022. The appellate court has not addressed it yet and Judge Weaver has not taken advantage of the long pause to repent of her conduct without supervisory intervention.

When it was time to address the disabled pro se litigant, Judge Susan Weaver’s triangle of shiny white teeth that lit up the room turned to a scowl. It is amazing how one’s facial expressions change the way they are seen. Susan Weaver went from being an attractive middle-aged woman to an ugly witch.

Even when Judge Weaver said words that might translate to paper as asking if the litigant wanted to hire an attorney to represent her, it sounded to me like the judge was threatening to have the pro se litigant involuntarily committed to a behavioral health facility or have a conservator appointed.

Try speaking softly. “Are you incompetent to represent yourself?” Now growl loudly, “Are You INCOMPETENT to represent yourself?” (Remember the SNL skit where two characters were debating, and one says “Jane, you ignorant slut…”)

The pro se litigant is not irrational. She has a language impediment, aphasia, caused by a Traumatic brain Injury. The judge did not offer to allow the woman a non-attorney accommodator, pursuant to the ADA.

Threatening to take the woman’s right to autonomy was like telling a deaf person they must be institutionalized because they cannot hear.

There was an out-of-area attorney in the second case on the docket yesterday. He marveled out loud at how friendly the judge was toward him.

The self-represented litigant left in tears.