On May 21, Judge James Dever III issued a dismissive order denying my Emergency TRO and Motion for Electronic Filing, citing generic case law as if he’d conducted a genuine review—when in fact, he ignored the verified evidence and mischaracterized my claims to suggest they were retaliatory simply because Yopp appeared as opposing counsel. That false framing not only distorted the basis of my TRO but actively undermined the seriousness of the constitutional and ADA violations I documented.
Even more telling was his complete silence on my request for electronic access, despite it being a clear ADA accommodation. I later discovered that Judge Dever has taught at Campbell Law School since 1997—overlapping with the years Yopp attended—and he failed to disclose that connection or recuse himself. This omission, combined with the ruling’s slanted language, raised clear concerns of bias and prompted me to file a formal judicial complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 351, citing misconduct, nondisclosure, and prejudicial treatment of a pro se litigant. I had no choice but to voluntarily dismiss the case and seek a venue where neutrality might still exist.