Pro Se 101
I would be remiss if the reader were not met, at the beginning of this writing, with this information: I am not a lawyer; this is not legal advice; this is simply me sharing my experience in the Courts of this Nation.
In this country, one who is deemed a competent adult may represent oneself before a Court of Law. This is typically referred to as pro se litigation although there are some variations on the reference and naming there applied. The law is not small. There are entire schools dedicated to its teachings. There are hundreds of volumes dedicated to its text. There are thousands of legislators assigned to its construction. The most important thing here, despite the sheer size of the mountain made of law, is that law is people. Always keep this in mind. The opposing attorney is a person. The judge is a person. The clerks are people. The jurors, sheriffs, prothonotaries, and marshalls are all people.
People are fallible. People can be persuaded. As a pro se litigant, the point is to find the wrongs of the opposing counsel and persuade the judge and jury of your point. How are flaws in argument found? How are judges persuaded? Where does one even begin?
Most of the time, when one is thrust into the legal system it is through the Government filing an action against the person. These citations, subpoenas, and other such orders state the charges against the person and some amount of description (usually a Police Officer affidavit) in support of the charges. Even traffic violations are charges; they will be listed on the ticket you receive. Many people pay the ticket and move on - this is a guilty plea. When you pay the government you receive a criminal record in return. These kinds of violations are small and usually impact your insurance rates and loan rates but nothing more. These low-risk violations are the best to use in figuring your way through the legal system.
Get a good legal research tool and learn to use it. there are many such tools such as LexisNexis, West Law, Find Law, and Case Text. With these tools you can usually type in the charge number that is printed on your notices and find both what the law states and judges’ rulings in other cases with similar charges.
Read the text of the law carefully; often the facts on the citation do not match exactly what the law states. Even if you broke the law, if the charges filed differ from what you did, the case must be thrown out because the system cannot charge you for something you did not do; they must charge you for what you did.
One reason to read other cases carefully is to find if a lesser charge would fit your crime. Even if the fact pattern matches what was charged, if a lesser charge could have been filed with the same fact pattern, you can usually persuade a Judge to allow the lesser charge to stand in place of what the system is attempting to give to you.
Reading laws and prior cases is the easiest way to learn how to make your way through the legal system. These cases were written by judges. The more you read how judges write, the better you will be able to persuade judges through your own writing. The more you read how judges write, the better you will be able to detect how what was levied against you is wrong and how you can fight it. Reading is key in the pro se journey.