Sasho Stantchev, Petitioner v. Bunker Hill Community College

Sasho Stantchev has asked the Supreme Court to review whether a Massachusetts court unfairly enforced filing deadlines in his personal-injury case involving a state institution. His petition says the court excused late conduct by government defendants but imposed the harshest sanction on him, even though he was unrepresented and says the delay was not his fault.

The justices have not scheduled oral argument or taken any public action on the merits. Stantchev argues that strict deadline enforcement violated due process and that the state court treated government defendants more favorably than him.

The petition raises whether people, especially those without lawyers, can lose injury cases against state institutions because of deadline rules before a court hears the facts. For example, someone hurt at a public college could argue that the government got flexibility for late actions while the injured person did not.

The petition says a Massachusetts court let deadline rules outweigh the facts of a personal-injury case at a state institution. It also claims government defendants got more lenient treatment than a self-represented plaintiff.

Self-represented people suing state institutions could be affected. For example, someone hurt at a public college could face dismissal before a court reaches the facts.

The Court will decide whether to take the petition for certiorari (review). No argument is scheduled yet, and no decision window is available.