Lawsuit-Friendly Counties draw hyper-litigants from far and wide

 

A real and growing issue for law enforcement agencies and municipalities across the U.S. The term “serial litigant” or “hyper-litigant” refers to individuals who repeatedly file lawsuits (sometimes dozens or even hundreds) against government entities, often alleging civil rights violations or police misconduct.

Litigants who frequently engage in legal action are likely to be drawn to jurisdictions perceived as plaintiff-friendly. Such “lawsuit-friendly” counties often provide procedural or cultural advantages that increase the likelihood of favorable outcomes, thereby incentivizing forum shopping and undermining uniform application of the law.

The allure of lawsuit-friendly counties rings like a bell to hyper-litigants, many of whom derive their livelihood from the continual filing of claims.

Among the most vulnerable targets are law enforcement officers who lack adequate training or experience. When procedural errors or lapses in judgment occur, hyper-litigants are quick to capitalize, filing suits that exploit even minor missteps. This dynamic not only burdens local courts but also strains public resources and undermines confidence in the justice system. 

Over time, the concentration of such cases in a few plaintiff-friendly venues encourages a culture of opportunistic litigation—one that rewards manipulation of venue and penalizes honest service. 

Extreme Case Samples: 

Anonymous Participant 364 moved to Monroe County in 2017: using multiple aliases and shell companies, has been involved in more lawsuits than any other Monroe County resident.

Jonathan Lee Riches became notoriously known as one of the most prolific pro se litigants in U.S. history. While serving a federal prison sentence, he filed thousands of lawsuits — literally over 2,600 by some counts — against a vast range of defendants.

His lawsuits included filings against:
Public figures like George W. Bush, Martha Stewart, and Britney Spears;
Corporations such as Google, NASCAR, and even “The Eiffel Tower”;
Abstract or fictional entities — once he sued “the Roman Empire” and “the planet Pluto.”

How Some Major Events Help or Hurt Our Communities... The Law of Consequences

 There is no tragedy that cannot be turned into a publicity stunt. It’s a cynical thought — and yet, in today’s world of 24-hour news cycles and institutional storytelling, it often proves true. Modern media and government relations have perfected the art of transforming real pain into strategic narrative. In this economy of attention, sorrow becomes a kind of currency.

Consider the 2022 case of a missing child that gripped local media for two full days. What could have been a brief report — a child missing, then found — was stretched into an orchestrated event. The public was made to feel suspense, fear, and relief, all wrapped into a two-act story arc. Yet those who were there remember it differently. The boy was found sitting quietly, soon after the search began, sitting under a tree near his grandmother’s house--unhurt, asking only, “Where’s my Daddy?” It was an ordinary, tender moment — but such moments don’t make headlines. What did make headlines was the performance: the successful search, the triumphant recovery, the reaffirmation of institutional competence. 

A similar moral theater appears to surround the recent death of Pastor Lester Isbell while in custody at the Monroe County Jail. Instead of being treated primarily as a tragedy that calls for transparency and accountability, it risks being re-framed as a cautionary tale — a warning about the “serious consequences” of being arrested. The message is clear: don’t end up like him... Lester Isbill needed medical attention: Officer Finger Flipped him the Bird.

But that framing shifts focus from why he died to what lesson his death can be made to teach. The story becomes not about a man, but about control... On 10/29/2025 the Family of Johsua Mcleary awarded $2.5 million in a wrongful death lawsuit. Lawsuits Impact on Budgets--Litigation payouts and insurance hikes come from the county’s general operating budget. Since counties have limited revenue sources (mostly property tax and state/federal grants), increased liabilities often force local officials to: raise property taxes, cut public services, road maintenance, and social programs.

This instrumentalization of tragedy — the re-purposing of pain into message — is where media ethics and governance intersect most perilously. The aim ceases to be truth or empathy, and becomes narrative management. Officials, under the guise of transparency, select which angles to show. Reporters, chasing engagement metrics, favor emotion and closure over nuance and uncertainty. And so, complex human realities are compressed into clean moral lessons. The child’s relief becomes proof of institutional competence; the pastor’s death, a cautionary advertisement for obedience.
But tragedy should not be a tool for persuasion. It should be a moment of moral pause — a disruption that demands reflection rather than spin. When institutions turn loss into theater, they erode not only public trust but also the moral depth of a society. We learn to watch suffering instead of feeling it. We are trained to consume empathy, not practice it.

The remedy isn’t outrage — it’s restraint. To tell fewer stories not because they are inconvenient, but because they are sacred. To resist the impulse to package grief into messaging. To remember that every tragedy, before it becomes news, is first a wound.

Because the moment we turn every human loss into a spectacle, we lose the capacity to mourn.

New Public Information Officer: She may be the only hope to fix Tommy's 'Trainwreck-style' Agenda

 

The Monroe County Sheriff's Office has a new P.I.O, referred to on social media as "PR Sue"-- she has been tasked with helping to steer the Jones Administration out of the smoldering wreckage of public opinion.

A search of the entire continental United States shows Monroe County TN Sheriff Tommy Jones' tactics after the death of Pastor Lester Isbill, are unlike any other.

In the recent Lester Isbill Homicide Investigation, there is no reported, documented case that exactly matches a query of, "A Sheriff publicly grills a Medical Examiner during a homicide investigation and then posts the recorded/quoted contents of that conversation on social media."

This WBIR link  details the Q and A, but bear in mind it is a transcription, which can be be slanted or partially re-worded--not an audio recording. 

What is documented or (closely related examples)

• Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez posted a graphic investigation photo (the body of 13-year old Madeline Soto) to Instagram; that led to state review, a civil citation and public criticism.
• In McCurtain County, OK, a local paper released audio of county officials (including the sheriff and others) saying inflammatory things; that recording was obtained/released by the paper, not posted by the sheriff himself. But again, it wasn't a sheriff posting a conversation with a Medical Examiner.
• There are examples of overlap (law enforcement sharing investigative material, and of clashes between sheriffs and medical examiners), but there is no other known case that contains "A recorded/quoted grilling of a medical examiner by a sheriff during an active homicide investigation."
  
  Misguided Leadership-"The Blind Leading the Blind" which illustrates the biblical saying from the Gospel of Matthew 15:14 "If the Blind lead the Blind, both will fall into the ditch."

Bankruptcy Twists, Courtroom Calamity, and the Ever-Changing Cast of LLC's

Auction that was planned for 323 McJunkin Road Has been 'Postponed'

Just when everyone thought the long-awaited auction at 323 McJunkin Road in Tellico Plains might finally close the book on this wild saga — the chairs were almost set, the gavel polished, the auctioneer ready — everything stopped cold.

Now, Billy — a man with what seems like barely a third-grade education — has managed, with the help of the more schooled Daniela, to upend the Monroe County court system for years. Together, they’ve filed, appealed, delayed, and maneuvered their way through the legal thicket like seasoned performers in a courthouse sideshow that began 4 years ago.

Even John Cleveland, a respected attorney known for representing well-heeled clients, was drawn into the spectacle. Taking the plaintiff’s case on consignment, Cleveland stepped far outside his usual clientele — a move that’s had locals wondering whether he regrets trading his high-dollar suits for muddy boots in this Tellico tangle.

A bankruptcy filing dropped like a thunderclap, and the court ruled the auction cancelled. The formerly Miami based Daniela, is Billy's newest gal/pal and loyal co-pilot in this bumpy legal ride. The 323 McJunkin property had been sold to her by Billy, after being purchased from Marion Hamby, and with the bankruptcy now in play, the entire case is likely frozen in legal ice for years to come.

At the heart of the lawsuit, though, was something far more personal than paperwork: Billy’s former girlfriend claimed she had put up 40% of the original purchase money to help him buy the McJunkin Road house. Billy, of course, told a different tale — that the money wasn’t a contribution at all, but a debt she owed him, and that the lawsuit was nothing more than the work of “a woman scorned.”

Still, the courts didn’t seem to buy that argument — and Billy’s next moves only made things murkier. Taking matters into his own hands, he marched into the Tennessee Court of Appeals, representing himself in what would become one of the most talked-about pro se appeals in Monroe County history.

It was fifteen minutes of courtroom calamity, full of sharp turns, contradictions, and unintentional comedy. At one point, Billy argued that the plaintiff’s lawsuit was invalid because it was filed after his LLC had been dissolved. Billy “Whiskey Barrel” had quietly dissolved Whiskey Barrel Trading LLC soon after the sale to Daniela--apparently unaware that an LLC can still be sued after dissolution.

And, he denies ever bragging about being rich — though earlier he’d boasted about yachts and his supposed fortune. Later, he tries to smooth over a misstep involving the Carson Law Firm, first saying they handled “eleven real estate transactions” for him, then quickly downgrading that claim to “situations.”

After 4 Years of Legal Wrangling, the Case Has Gone to Potts

Due to Bankruptcy Filing--Court Rules Auction Cancelled--Case May be Delayed for Years... 😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩  "Where's that Whiskey Barrel Mamaw?"

Potts Brothers Land and Auction will conduct the court-ordered auction of the property at 323 McJunkin rd. in Tellico Plains on Thursday, Oct. 16th, at 6:00 PM--it will be an on-site auction. 

Billy 'Whiskey Barrel Trading LLC' fought the local circuit court verdict for years in Monroe County TN, then tried to appeal the ruling before the Tennessee Court of Appeals without a lawyer--it is seen as one of the worst pro-se appeals by a non-lawyer litigant--a litany of shocking insults against the former girlfriend did not help his 15-minute oral argument. 

At 6:50 minutes into the oral argument video there are inconsistencies in his remarks; saying that comments about 'him being rich and had yachts' were false but he bragged about his wealth earlier. 

Many other blunders, at 13.58 saying that he had 'the police' working on the case for him!  ... and "I was never given time to understand the law."  

It was confusing from the start: the first words out of his mouth, and you think 'WTF' did he say...? 

He currently uses (or did use) the screen name Rusty Trucks on Facebook...

Newsflash Billy--Makes no difference what shell company name or LLC you hide under--An LLC can still be sued after it's dissolution.

In 2024 the case was dismissed by the Tennessee Appeals Court--this link has the opinion of the court,  https://www.tncourts.gov/courts/court-appeals/opinions/2024/09/27/robyn-h-hurvitz-v-whiskey-barrel-trading-company-llc-et-al