Courts and Congress must protect the rights of pro se plaintiffs

Last year, I represented myself in an age-discrimination lawsuit against my employer, a school district in Northern Indiana. Despite not having an attorney, I resisted pressure to settle and took my case all the way to a jury trial. In the end, I won a judgment for more than $200,000.

But in the course of my experience, it became very apparent that the deck was stacked against me just because I was proceeding pro se – that is, representing myself, without an attorney. It’s hard enough for a layman to win in court as it is, but the apparent disdain and discrimination that courts and judges show toward pro se litigants make it that much harder.