Mrs. Grace Carrigan v. Sunland-Tujunga Telephone Company and State of California, Public Utilities Commission

Mrs. Grace Carrigan appeals from the dismissal of her complaint against each appellee upon the ground that such complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted; and because the district court refused to convene a three-judge court to hear the matter. The only questions before us are (1) did appellant’s complaint state a claim upon which relief can be granted, and (2) can a district court refuse to convene a three-judge court under the circumstances existing in this case?

It would serve no useful purpose for us to emphasize the difficulties under which laymen, unfamiliar with the practice of law, labor when they appear in propria persona. They have the undoubted and invaluable right as citizens to represent themselves in our courts. Almost as certainly, they endanger their ability to secure the fruits of that right by insisting that they can understand and apply legal theories (some technical and others not) with the same ability as that possessed by one who has spent years in his or her professional education. That they cannot is repeatedly proved. But we would be the last to prevent the exercise of their great American right to represent themselves in…