by Adrienne Rockenhaus
A Clerk in the mailroom just overruled the Supreme Court’s Whitmore standard. If the Chief Judge didn’t sign this order, who is running the Sixth Circuit?
TO THE HONORABLE CHIEF JUDGE JEFFREY S. SUTTON:
Your Honor has spent a distinguished career warning against the creeping power of the Administrative State. You have written eloquently about the dangers of allowing unelected bureaucrats to usurp the functions of the judiciary and the legislature. You believe in chains of command, constitutional order, and the sanctity of Article III authority.
So why is a Clerk in your mailroom signing legal rulings that overrule the United States Supreme Court?
On November 20, 2025, in United States v. Rockenhaus (Case No. 25-1974), your Clerk’s Office did not just process paperwork. They engaged in the unauthorized practice of law and the usurpation of judicial power.
The Bureaucratic Coup
The Defendant, Conrad Rockenhaus, is a disabled veteran suffering from a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and seizures. His medical condition is very serious and untreated, because of the illegal, violent raid on my personal sanctuary, on September 4, 2025.
My husband attempted to file a motion through me, his wife, as “Next Friend,” citing the Supreme Court’s decision in Whitmore v. Arkansas, 495 U.S. 149 (1990). Whitmore explicitly establishes that “Next Friend” standing is a legal determination to be made by a Judge based on evidence of the defendant’s incapacity.
Your Clerk, Alicia Harden, intercepted this motion and its supplement. She did not forward it to a panel. She did not flag it for judicial review. Instead, she issued a Rejection Letter (attached below) in which she unilaterally ruled:
“Please be advised that as a non-lawyer, you may not represent another individual… This is true even if you may act as next friend…”
Now my husband may die because of it.
The Constitutional Violation
With that single sentence, Ms. Harden, an unelected administrative staffer, made two findings of fact and law that belong exclusively to an Article III Judge:
- Medical Diagnosis: She determined, without evidence or medical credentials, that the Defendant was competent enough to represent himself, despite documented seizures.
- Legal Ruling: She overruled the Whitmore standard, effectively stripping a federal defendant of his right to argue for standing.
The Question for the Chief Judge
If Alicia Harden has the authority to deny Whitmore standing from the intake desk, then the Sixth Circuit has ceased to function as a court of law. It has become an administrative agency where clerks dictate constitutional rights.
Chief Judge Sutton: Did you sign an order delegating your Article III powers to Alicia Harden? Or is the “Shadow Docket” in Cincinnati now run by bureaucrats who believe they are above the Bench?
THE EVIDENCE: Click Here to View the Rejection Letter Signed by Alicia Harden
Thank you for your attention to this disturbing pattern.