On May 14, the Court of Appeals dismissed my Motion to Identify the Judicial Panel without explanation, ignoring my explicit request for legal authority to justify the denial. Just minutes later, they rejected my Record on Appeal again—without a court order, without explanation, and without following any proper procedure. That moment pushed me into a deeper investigation, and what I found confirmed everything I’d feared. Defendant Soar has held power within the North Carolina Court of Appeals since 2007, serving as a staff attorney before being appointed Clerk, giving him substantial administrative influence over appellate matters. Defendant Yopp, meanwhile, had externed and clerked for two appellate judges from 2013 to 2017, overlapping with Soar’s tenure—making it likely they worked together directly. Their longstanding relationship, coupled with repeated examples of Yopp receiving procedural advantages—including in a 2022 case where his extension motion was granted same-day without notice—underscores a disturbing pattern of favoritism and manipulation.
Armed with that knowledge, on May 15, I filed a § 1983 federal complaint in the Eastern District of North Carolina against Eugene H. Soar, David M. Yopp, Margaret P. Eagles, Christine M. Walczyk, Vartan A. Davidian III, and John Does 1–3. These John Does refer to unidentified appellate judges who issued materially defective and untimely rulings while concealing their identities to obstruct appellate review. Their failure to disclose authorship and their allowance of administrative interference in my appeal constitute non-judicial, administrative conduct—actions that fall outside the protections of judicial immunity. Although I reside in the Middle District, I filed in the Eastern District to preempt venue disputes, given I’m the only party who lives in the Middle. But when I attempted to file, the clerks appeared reluctant, questioning why I hadn’t filed in the Middle District—as if they already knew something I didn’t. I also submitted a motion to file electronically due to my disability, which should’ve been granted under the ADA, but was told it probably wouldn’t be. It felt like a silent warning. And six days later, I learned exactly why.
42 U.S. Code § 1983 – Civil action for deprivation of rights
Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer’s judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia.