Part III: Disrupting the Operation of the Court

This section covers tactics that, while they may occur in the courtroom, may also occur outside of the courtroom, in the presence of clerks, guards and other court personnel. The most crucial step a court can take to prepare for these tactics is to be aware of their potentiality and prepare a plan in advance to either placate or dissuade the patron from acting or to alleviate the effects of the patron's actions.

As the author notes in the discussion of the Trial Court Performance Standards, the responses courts take must be well-considered beforehand, for the parties against which those responses are taken both have a right to the same process as others and represent an unusually active threat to the courts. Civil rights suits by members of these movements, against judges in their personal capacity, are not unheard of. The response a court takes against one of these members might well make the difference whether the judge or other court personnel end up burdened with defending, or at least answering to, a suit against their person. For this, the authors strongly suggest an understanding and appreciation for the goals and methodology espoused by the Trial Court Performance Standards.