IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF ALASKA GORDEN WARREN EPPERLY, Petitioner, v.

BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA II, et al., Respondents. Case No. 1:12-cv-00011-TMB INITIAL ORDER TO SELF-REPRESENTED PARTY On June 25, 2012, Gordon Warren Epperly, representing himself, filed a Complaint in the Superior Court for the State of Alaska, which was removed by the defendant to this court on July 27, 2012, at docket 1. In the Complaint, Mr. Epperly alleges that President Obama was unlawfully inaugurated as President who has no inherent Rights of Birth to be a Citizen of the United States. Mr. Epperly also alleges that President Obama has not established the eligibility requirements under the U.S. Constitution of being a natural born Citizen, or even a citizen of the United States.1 When a plaintiff is self-represented, the court has an obligation to liberally construe the plaintiff's pleadings and give the plaintiff the benefit of any doubt.2 However, a self-represented plaintiff must still follow court rules and procedures. For that reason, this order sets out some of the basic court procedures for a selfrepresented litigant in federal District Court and includes a handbook designed to assist self-represented parties navigate the litigation process.
See Gordon Warren Epperly v. Barack Obama II, Case No. 1JU-12-694CI, available at http://www.courtrecords.alaska.gov/eservices/home.page. See Hebbe v. Plier, 627 F.3d 338, 342 (9th Cir. 2010) ("[O]ur 'obligation' remains [after Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (2009)], 'where the petitioner is pro se, particularly in civil rights cases, to construe the pleadings liberally and to afford the petitioner the benefit of any doubt.'") (citation omitted); Pagayon v. Holder, 675 F.3d 1182, 1188 (9th Cir. 2011) ("We are particularly careful to give claims raised by pro se petitioners their most liberal construction.") (citation omitted).
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Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED: I. All papers to be filed with the court must be identified with the name of the

court, the case number, the names of the plaintiff and the first defendant, and the title of the document, as illustrated above. II. Mr. Epperly shall be responsible for serving a copy of all pleadings or

documents he sends to the court upon the defendants lawyer(s). Mr. Epperly shall include, with any original paper to be filed with the Clerk of Court, a certificate stating the date that an exact copy of the document was mailed, faxed, or hand-delivered to the defendants lawyer(s). A certificate of service may be written in the following form at the end of the document: I hereby certify that a copy of the above (name of document) was served upon (name of opposing counsel) by (mail/fax/handdelivery) at (address) on (date). (Signature) Any paper received by a District Court Judge or Magistrate Judge which has not been filed with the Clerk of Court or which does not include a certificate of service will be disregarded by the court. III. No party shall have any ex parte communication (that is, communication

without the presence and/or knowledge and consent of the other parties) with a District Court Judge or Magistrate Judge of this court about the merits of this action. The plaintiff should not write letters to the court. Any requests for action by the court during these proceedings must be filed as a motion. IV. At all times, Mr. Epperly shall keep the court informed of any change of

address, by filing a notice titled "NOTICE OF CHANGE OF ADDRESS." The notice

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shall contain only information about the change of address and its effective date. The notice shall not include any requests for any other relief. V. The Clerk of Court is directed to send a copy of the court's motion form,

PS12, to Mr. Epperly with this order. VI. At all times, Mr. Epperly shall keep the court informed of any change of

address, by filing a notice titled "NOTICE OF CHANGE OF ADDRESS." The notice shall contain only information about the change of address and its effective date. The notice shall not include any requests for any other relief. VII. The Clerk of Court is directed to send a copy of the District Court's

handbook for self-represented litigants, "Representing Yourself in Alaska's Federal Court," to NAME with this order. DATED at Anchorage, Alaska this 9th day of August, 2012. TIMOTHY M. BURGESS United States District Judge

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