By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//September 4, 2014//
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
Civil
Civil Procedure — sanctions
Dismissal and revocation of in forma pauperis privileges are appropriate sanctions for perjury.
“Although we have said enough to explain why the district court’s judgment must be affirmed, we do not think that the dismissal of a doomed suit (having failed to exhaust his intra-prison remedies during the time Wisconsin allowed, Rivera was bound to lose) is a sufficient response to perjury. The judicial system cannot function if the only consequence of lying is the loss of a suit that would have had no chance from the outset, had the truth been told. That’s effectively no sanction at all. If perjury pays benefits when it escapes detection, but has no cost when detected, there will be far too much perjury and the accuracy of judicial decisions will be degraded.”
Affirmed.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Griesbach, J., Easterbrook, J.