Rivard v. Town of Brattleboro
2:24-cv-00876
| D. Vt. | Nov 14, 2025|
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Docket
| U.S. DISTRICT COURT
BS] GT OF VERMONT
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE IS NOVIG PH 2:46
DISTRICT OF VERMONT CLERK
JEFFREY RIVARD, NEPUNY TLERR
Plaintiff, )
)
V. )
)
TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO, ADAM ) Case No. 2:24-cv-875
PETLOCK, RYAN WASHBURN, JOHN )
POTTER, )
)
TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO, JOHN ) Case No. 2:24-cv-876
POTTER, BRATTLEBORO POLICE )
DEPARTMENT, ADAM PETLOCK, )
)
TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO POLICE, ) Case No. 2:24-cv-877
JOHN POTTER, )
)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, ) Case No. 2:24-cv-878
)
Defendants. )
OPINION AND ORDER ENTERING A FILING INJUNCTION
On August 8, 2024, Plaintiff Jeffrey Rivard, representing himself, filed motions
for leave to proceed in forma pauperis and proposed Complaints in four separate cases
based on his interactions with law enforcement in the Brattleboro, Vermont area. On
December 13, 2024, the court issued an Entry Order in each case granting Plaintiffs
motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis, dismissing the proposed Complaint, and
ordering him to show cause by January 13, 2025, why the court should not enter a filing
injunction against him. On December 18, 2024, Plaintiff filed a timely twenty-page
response reiterating many of his claims regarding the Defendants and their alleged
actions.
District courts “have the power and the obligation to protect the public and the
efficient administration of justice from individuals who have a history of litigation
entailing vexation, harassment[,] and needless expense to other parties and an
unnecessary burden on the courts and their supporting personnel.” Lau v. Meddaugh, 229
F.3d 121, 123(2d Cir. 2000) (internal quotation marks and brackets omitted); Safir v. U.S. Lines, Inc.,792 F.2d 19
, 24 (2d Cir. 1986) (“A district court not only may but should protect its ability to carry out its constitutional functions against the threat of onerous, multiplicitous, and baseless litigation.”) (internal quotation marks omitted). Thus, the court may prohibit an individual from filing new actions in the venue when he or she “abuse[s] the process of the [c]ourts to harass and annoy others with meritless, frivolous, vexatious[,] or repetitive [filings.]” Jn re Hartford Textile Corp.,659 F.2d 299
, 305 (2d
Cir. 1981).
The Second Circuit has instructed district courts to consider the following factors
when deciding whether to enjoin the filing of future lawsuits:
(1) the litigant’s history of litigation and in particular whether it entailed
vexatious, harassing[,] or duplicative lawsuits; (2) the litigant’s motive in
pursuing the litigation, e.g., does the litigant have an objective good faith
expectation of prevailing?; (3) whether the litigant is represented by
counsel; (4) whether the litigant has caused needless expense to other
parties or has posed an unnecessary burden on the courts and their
personnel; and (5) whether other sanctions would be adequate to protect the
courts and other parties.
Safir, 792 F.2d at 24. “Ultimately, the question the court must answer is whether a
litigant who has a history of vexatious litigation is likely to continue to abuse the judicial
process and harass other parties.” Jd.
In this case, Plaintiff was provided an opportunity to explain to the court why a
filing injunction is not appropriate. See Moates v. Barkley, 147 F.3d 207, 208 (2d Cir.
1998) (explaining a court “may not impose a filing injunction on a litigant sua sponte
without providing [that] litigant with notice and an opportunity to be heard”). His
response includes the following explanation:
[Multiple allegations are stated regarding denial of the Town of
Brattleboro to a Right to Grievance and pattern of misconduct . . . by [the]
Brattleboro Police Department. These matters [were] cursorily dismissed
[by the] Vermont Supreme Court entries without allowance for presentation
of civil rights pattern selective enforcement and abuse of discretion to
include false reports, or presentation of facts to clarify errors within entries
of the State court. This filing series reflected the present sense belief that an
elevated jurisdiction might review lower jurisdiction errors or denial of fair
or impartial justice. The determination of this [c]ourt without providing
docket, summons for service, and presentation of [i]nformation potentially
denies justice where federal oversight is demanded where [Plaintiffs] civil
rights are violated[.]
(Doc. 4 at 1-2.) The court understands that Plaintiff feels strongly about the merits of his
claims but the federal courts do not have unlimited jurisdiction and generally do not sit as
courts of appeal for state court decisions. See Vossbrinck v. Accredited Home Lenders,
Inc., 773 F.3d 423, 426(2d Cir. 2014) (citing Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Indus. Corp.,544 U.S. 280, 283-84
(2005)) (“[F]ederal district courts lack jurisdiction over cases that essentially amount to appeals of state court judgments.”). The court also generally cannot re-decide adjudicated cases. This would jeopardize the interest in the finality of judgments. See Zdanok v. Glidden Co.,327 F.2d 944, 953
(2d Cir. 1964)
(“[W]here litigants have once battled for the court’s decision, they should neither be
required, nor without good reason permitted, to battle for it again.”).
Plaintiff has filed several unsuccessful actions over the years, including five other
cases in this court which were dismissed prior to service on the defendants for lack of
subject matter jurisdiction or failure to state a claim. He has also filed multiple lawsuits
in the Vermont Superior Court,” where he was warned in relevant part:
This court cannot allow Mr. Rivard’s attempts to relitigate the same dispute
over and over. .. .The court further provides notice to Mr. Rivard that any
future attempts to relitigate claims based on the same incidents previously
asserted in prior lawsuits may again result in dismissal due to claim
' See Rivard v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., Case No. 2:21-cv-184 (D. Vt. May 9, 2023); Rivard v. Soc.
Sec. Admin., Case No. 2:21-cv-224 (D. Vt. Apr. 10, 2023); Rivard v. Vermont, Case No. 2:22-cv-
134 (D. Vt. Sept. 26, 2022); Rivard v. Smallheer et al., Case No. 2:23-cv-166 (D. Vt. Sept. 19,
2023); Rivard v. United States, Case No. 2:23-cv-428 (D. Vt. Oct. 31, 2023).
2 See Vermont Superior Court dockets: Rivard v. Town of Brattleboro, Case No. 22-cv-03222,
Windham Unit; Rivard v. State of Vermont et al., Case No. 23-cv-01280, Bennington Unit;
Rivard v. Brattleboro Police Department et al., Case No. 23-cv-02763, Windham Unit; Rivard v.
Town of Brattleboro, Case No. 23-cv-04956, Windham Unit.
preclusion, and reminds him of his obligations under Vermont Rule of Civil
Procedure 11, and of the potential for sanctions for filing frivolous claims.
Rivard v. State of Vermont, 2024 WL 3274551, at *5 (Vt. Super. Ct. June 24, 2024); see
also Rivard v. Town of Brattleboro, Case No. 23-cv-04956, slip op. at 2 (Vt. Super. Ct.
July 2, 2024) (barring Plaintiff from reasserting claims because “Plaintiff filed a nearly
identical complaint against, among others, the Town of Brattleboro in 22-[cv]-3222. That
complaint addressed the exact same circumstances surrounding the exact same accident
as that at issue here’”’).
This court previously warned Plaintiff on October 31, 2023, that “future
multiplicitous filings in this District may result in a filing injunction, especially if
Plaintiff has previously asserted the same claims in a previous suit that has been
dismissed.” Rivard v. United States, Case No. 2:23-cv-428 (Doc. 3 at 8) (D. Vt. Oct. 31,
2023) (emphasis omitted). The Vermont Supreme Court as recently as September 2025
concluded that similar claims to Plaintiffs claims here were barred by claim preclusion
and properly dismissed. See Rivard v. Windham State Att’y, 2025 WL 2589466, at *2 (Vt.
Sept. 5, 2025). It stated in relevant part:
[P]laintiff’s claim of defamation arose from the same transaction as his
prior assertion of malicious prosecution because the facts were related in
time, space, origin, and motivation. Both were related to [Plaintiff's
conviction of domestic assault in August 2023 and the behavior of the
Windham County State’s Attorney Office—Deputy State’s Attorney
Nevins in particular—during that prosecution. In both, [Plaintiff claims
that false statements made about the case caused him harm. It would
contravene the purposes of claim preclusion, including avoiding piecemeal
litigation, conserving court resources, and promoting finality, to allow
[P]laintiff to pursue this suit. Because the action was barred by claim
preclusion, dismissal was appropriate.
Id. (footnote omitted).
In view of the foregoing, the court sees no alternative but to bar Plaintiff from
filing any new actions without first obtaining leave from the court. Accordingly, if
Plaintiff wishes to commence an action in this court in the future, he must file with his
proposed complaint a motion for leave to file. The motion will be reviewed by the court,
and if it appears that the proposed action is repetitive, meritless, frivolous, malicious,
intended to harass, or otherwise barred, leave to file will be denied.
For the reasons set forth above, Plaintiff is hereby ENJOINED from filing any
new actions in this court without obtaining prior leave from the court.
The court hereby certifies that under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) any appeal would not
be taken in good faith.
SO ORDERED.
Dated at Burlington, in the District of Vermont, this day of November, 2025.
United States District Court