Pamela Melvin v. Peter O'Rourke, Secretary of Veterans Affairs

(i). QUESTIONS In Chambers v. NASCO, Inc., 501 U.S. 32, 50 (1991), this Court held that all federal courts have the inherent power to impose sanction for bad faith litigation without regard to any limitations in the Rules and statutes and that review on appeal is under the abuse of discretion standard. The Federal Circuit ruled (a) that 38 USC § 7292 prohibits its review of the decision made on an unopposed motion for sanction filed under the Veterans Court inherent power and its review of the U.S. Department of Justice's letter supporting sanction, and (b) that bad faith litigation— unlawful search and seizure; access to, harassment on, and deleting typing for court from computer; and denying right to testify—are not unconstitutional under §7292(d)(2). Against its firmly held precedents, the Federal Circuit allowed arguments not presented below for one party only. The questions presented are: Whether 38 USC § 7292 prohibits review of the Veterans Court's decision and evidence. Whether the Federal Circuit's decision conflicts with this Court's decisions, its own precedents, the decisions of other U.S Court of Appeals and the U.S. Constitution regarding courts' inherent power to sanction, standard of review abuse of discretion, waived arguments, search and seizures, due process, failure to deny is an admission, and equal protection.