Judicial committee bans court filings by Haddad

Since his February 2009 arrest on domestic terrorism charges, River Forest resident Ron Haddad, Jr. has authored dozens upon dozens of court filings and lawsuits, going so far as to sue his trial judge.

That will no longer happen, following a ruling by the Executive Committee of the federal 7th District Court.

On Sept. 11, the head of that committee, Chief Judge Ruben Castillo, signed an order denying the now convicted Haddad permission to file 10 motions and affidavits submitted between late June and late August, including one to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Citing a previous executive committee order from June 13, 2011 that limited Haddad’s right to file motions, Castillo formally denied Haddad permission to file any documents with the federal court clerk’s office, ordered the 10 documents recently submitted returned to Haddad, and banned him from submitting anything else to any court for a period of 24 months.

After that, the order states, “Mr. Haddad may submit a motion to modify or rescind this order.”

The committee also warned Haddad that any further violations of its order “may subject him to additional sanctions, including monetary fines.” 

Besides filing a plethora of pro se motions without consulting his attorneys, Haddad, 38, has mailed numerous letters and documents to Wednesday Journal and other newspapers. 

In his most recent letter to Wednesday Journal, Haddad expressed his displeasure with the executive committee, which he referred to as “scum” and “pieces of s*** disguised as people.” 

Echoing a contention he has voiced repeatedly, Haddad accused the judges on the committee of trying to stop him “from my totally constitutionally guaranteed rights of free speech and due process of participating in my own defense/pro se or not but even more as pro se.” 

Haddad further castigated Federal Court Clerk Thomas G. Bruton for returning the documents, calling him, among other things, an “oxygen stealing waste of space.”  

In several previous mailings to Wednesday Journal, Haddad expressed satisfaction over his most recent court appearance, and that he looks forward to addressing the court at his upcoming sentencing hearing. He indicated his belief that he will be allowed to revisit the case at that time and make an argument for a reversal of his sentence. 

In April a jury convicted Haddad on 28 counts of sending threatening letters and packages to numerous elected officials through the mail, and two counts of sending threatening emails. He faces up to five years on each count.

Haddad fired all five of his attorneys, calling them all “sell-outs” who conspired with prosecutors to deny him his right to a fair trial. He now sits in the downtown Metropolitan Correctional Center awaiting sentencing on Dec. 3. His former attorney Andrea Gambino asked the court to sentence Haddad to time served. But prosecutors, citing his lack of repentance and belligerent attitude, have asked that he be sentenced to between 11 and 14 years. 

Haddad is anything but repentant. And as he has frequently over the past several years, he continues to contend his actions have been effective, impacting his perceived enemies negatively. In one letter he claims his trial judge, Virginia Kendall, is currently under investigation due to his complaints and facing “possible firing.”

He also takes credit for getting one of the prosecutors on his case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, fired. Thompson was, in fact, transferred to another district at his own request, due to personal reasons.

Addressing his other prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Ridgway, Haddad wrote and underlined, “William Ridgway is next.”