John Luckett asserts that the lawsuits he files all the time, against everyone, are not "frivolous" at all. "I've just had a bad experience of the whole world trying to screw me. I have had a lot of horrible things happen," he tells the Las Vegas Weekly.

But perhaps Luckett brings his bad luck upon himself by finding causes of action everywhere he goes, and always suing people? (Or maybe because he stamps his court documents with "I Love Cats," and somehow ends up with dog-loving judges all the time.) As the Weekly reports, Luckett's been suing people since he was a teenager, and has filed at least 40 suits around the country. He can no longer sue people in California, where he lives, because he's been determined to be a "vexatious litigant." So he's got to go to other states to get his courthouse kicks.

Like Nevada—where he's suing the Las Vegas-based Pinball Hall of Fame, a nonprofit arcade and museum. Why? Because local police told Luckett to stay away from the place after some shoving allegedly occurred between him and the arcade operator, Tim Arnold. Also, the arcade's volunteer staff violated his civil rights as a "pinball wizard" (a protected class):

In all, Luckett filed a total of 11 complaints, ranging from assault to breech [sic] of contract (for turning off the machine) to discrimination, the latter containing a claim that volunteers at the Pinball Hall of Fame are "prejudice" against him because of his pinball wizardry and ability to play for hours on 50 cents. Arnold says the litigation has already cost the nonprofit charitable organization that operates the Hall of Fame $13,000 in legal fees.

The volunteers are supposedly lazy, too:

"I asked [a male volunteer] to fix several machines that day," Luckett said. "I got angry at him because I wanted him to fix Xenon within a relatively short period of time and he didn't."

The story is an entertaining and passions-stirring read, and you should all stop filing your own lawsuits for a moment to see for yourself.

A search for information about Luckett's lawsuits-past turns up this case, in which California's Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division 3, determines a John Luckett of California to be a "vexatious litigant"; and this opinion, in which the same court affirms his status. The latter document states that Luckett earned his "vexatious litigant" status at the tender age of 25, and also relates his belief (as a pinball wizard, not as a medical professional) that he had to be found mentally ill before being declared officially "vexatious." The court did not find Luckett's health-related argument to be persuasive, maybe because he'd stamped "I Love Cats" all over his legal papers. Ha, just kidding—he stamped "I Love Courts" all over them.

We feel a mixture of annoyance and sympathy for John Luckett. Annoyance, because he's wasting other people's time and money, and providing fodder for tort reform advocacy groups looking for persuasive case studies to link to in their e-blasts to supporters. Sympathy, because clearly he is not a very joyful man, if he finds litigation to be pleasurable.

[Las Vegas Weekly, via Fark. Image via AP.]