Fayette County, Alabama

The Honorable James W. Moore
Circuit Court Judge
Fayette County Courthouse
Fayette, AL 35555
Via Fax to 205-932-3678

Re: Judge Moore's Orders Rendered Void by Failure to Execute and File the State Judges' Loyalty Oath

Dear Judge Moore:

If the sending of this fax breaks your fax machine again, send me the bill. It will be worth it.

I just got off the phone with the Alabama Secretary of State's office, and the clerk there called me to tell me that she had gotten my written request, and it does not appear that you ever executed and filed a State Loyalty Oath with the Alabama Secretary of State, as you are required to do by Alabama Code Sections 36-4-1 and 2.

The execution and filing of this written oath is also mandated by federal law 4 USC 102. It is one of the first Acts passed by Congress. They're the folks in Washington who have a history of reminding folks in Alabama what the federal law is. It appears, according again to your own state's Secretary of State, that you never executed and filed this state- and federally-mandated written oath of office. This is a very serious matter.

The case law is clear that any failure on your part to timely execute and file your oath renders your orders void. Please review this line of cases which began, as you recall, with Marbury v. Madison. To quote you as you said to me: "Any first-year law student should know this, Mr. Thompson."

This is quite an interesting development, is it not, Your Honor? You are the very judge (correct me if I am wrong) who has asserted in a Bar complaint that I was allegedly unauthorizedly practicing law in your state by signing a pleading as a pro hac vice applicant. This became your view, wrongly, only when the porn lawyers asked you to adopt this view.

Now we find that you've been on the bench, it seems, since December 16, 1993, without an oath of office, and you had absolutely no authority to sit on the bench and act like a judge.

There are a number of civil litigants, not to mention criminal defendants, one of whom is named Devin Moore and who is sitting on Death Row in the Atmore facility, who will be quite interested (will they not?) to know that all of your orders can now be challenged by virtue of the fact that you have had absolutely no legal or constitutional authority to enter those orders.

If you don't immediately alert the Alabama Supreme Court to your problem and provide me with a copy thereof, I shall do so.

Nice going, "Judge."

Regards,

Jack Thompson
5721 Riviera Dr.
Coral Gables, FL 33146
Phone: 305-666-4366
E-mail: amendmentone@comcast.net

Dane County, Wisconsin

Cruelest Miscarriage of Justice: Audrey Edmunds Case

Early this year, a state appeals court, citing new medical evidence, overturned this former Waunakee resident's conviction for killing an infant in her care. By then Audrey Edmunds had spent 12 years in prison -- one year shy of her full sentence -- all the while credibly protesting her conviction and defending her innocence. The Dane County Attorney refused to concede that they had obtained a wrongful conviction, then cruelly waited three months after the state Supreme Court declined to take the case to say that they would not retry her.

Source: Wisconsin nightmares of 2008

Washington, DC

Stevens juror lied; dad not dead

by Jesse J. Holland

A juror who vanished during Alaska Senator Ted Stevens' corruption trial told the judge Monday that she lied about her father dying and flew to California to see horse races.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered Marian Hinnant, identified as juror No. 4, to return to court to explain why she disappeared during jury deliberations.

Hinnant, 52, brought a stack of handwritten notes with her to court on Monday, along with public defender A.J. Kramer, and told the judge that her father hadn't died and that she was at the Breeders' Cup in Arcadia, California.

She apologized for lying, and then started a rambling story about horses, which included references to horse breeding, the Breeders' Cup, drugs, President Ford's son Steven, and her condo in Florida being bugged.

"I am thoroughly convinced you would not have been able to continue to deliberate," Sullivan interrupted.

"Can I have a case of my own?" Hinnant asked. Sullivan referred her to Kramer and the federal public-defender's office, and excused her from his courtroom.

Outside the courthouse, Hinnant refused to answer questions about whether she was on medication or had been hospitalized. When asked what she thought about Stevens' case, she said, "He didn't do anything any other congressman or senator or governor or president has not done. He was guilty but these other ones are just as guilty if not more guilty."

When asked if she thought Stevens was guilty, she replied, "I didn't say that."

Hinnant told court officials late on October 23 that her father had died and that she had to fly to California the next morning. The judge halted deliberations, which had begun the day before, to give her a chance to take care of her father's affairs. However, Hinnant refused to return telephone calls from court officials.

Source

Apparently, being tried by a jury of your peers can include being tried by someone who is stark, raving nuts. -mjy

Ohio

89-year-old charged with keeping kids' ball

BLUE ASH, Ohio (AP) - Police in Ohio say an 89-year-old woman is facing a charge of petty theft because neighborhood children accuse her of refusing to give back their football.

Edna Jester was arrested last week in the Cincinnati suburb of Blue Ash.

Police say one child's father complained that Jester kept the youngsters' ball after it landed in her yard. Police Capt. James Schaffer says there has been an ongoing dispute in the neighborhood over kids' balls landing in the woman's yard.

Jester said Monday she has received many calls and didn't have time to discuss the matter any more.

Jester is to appear in court next month. The maximum penalty for a petty theft conviction in Ohio is six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

Source

Florida

John B. Thompson, Attorney at Law
5721 Riviera Dr
Coral Gables FL 33146
305-666-4366
amendmentone@comcast.net

September 30, 2008

The Honorable Michael Mukasey
Attorney General
Justice Department
950 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington DC 20530

The Honorable Federico Moreno
Chief Judge
US District Court, Southern District of Florida
Ferguson Federal Courthouse
400 N Miami Ave
Miami FL 33128

Christina Pharo
US Marshal, Southern District of Florida
Ferguson Federal Courthouse
400 N Miami Ave
Miami FL 33128

Re: Illegal Harassment and Blacklisting of Attorney John B. Thompson by US Marshal

Dear Attorney General Mukasey, Judge Moreno, and Marshal Pharo:

Commencing on June 16, 2008, US Marshal Pharo commenced the illegal harassment and blacklisting of me by sending Deputy Marshals to my home and then harassing me in the United States Courthouse here in Miami. Each of you was told about that weeks ago, and you did nothing.

Three months ago I submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Justice to get to the bottom of this harassment and blacklisting, and the Justice Department has completely ignored my request, which is itself a violation of the law.

When I went to the Ferguson Federal Courthouse today, the Deputy Marshals were waiting for me because they clearly knew I was coming. The black binder that contains alleged "threats" was opened to my page, featuring two pictures of me, and with the explanation, read to me by the Deputy, that I am to be escorted because I am about to be disbarred, because I have filed lawsuits that have been dismissed, and because I allegedly wrote inappropriate letters to judges. By all means, let's round up half of the United States' population including all Members of Congress, why don't we.

The fact that this multi-page binder was already opened up to my page as I walked through the front door suggests surveillance by some means by the US Marshal. There have been other bits of evidence suggesting this surveillance, but this is the clincher. The most likely means of doing so are my cell phone use by satellite monitoring, land line phone taps, and/or taps on my home computer.

When the Deputies illegally visited my home they stated that I was in fact being "monitored," and they also indicated that this was unnecessary. They apologized.

The Deputy today that escorted me to the Clerk's Office to file my emergency motion pertaining to the latest misconduct by The Florida Bar told me that "this following you should stop because it is ridiculous." Indeed it is. It also constitutes illegal blacklisting.

Let me tell you what we're going to do here: The Justice Department is going to respond fully to my FOIA request, and you, Attorney General Mukasey, are not going to continue to ignore it.

Further, Judge Moreno, who is participating in this harassment process, is going to give me a full hearing in open court about this nonsense, which I asked for weeks ago. Further, Judge Moreno, because he and US Marshal Pharo have poisoned the well in this federal District, is going to do what he did in the Tew/Robles/Florida Bar case and transfer Case No. 08-22603 to a non-Florida federal judge.

Either I am told by close of business Friday that the above is going to be done, or I am going to file a federal action against the appropriate defendants.

This is not Nazi Germany, not yet anyway.

Regards,

Jack Thompson

Update 10/01/08: Memo of Law for Emergency Stay

Florida

Miami Attorney Jack Thompson Disbarred by Florida Supreme Court

Miami attorney Jack Thompson, nationally and internationally known by virtue of his effective and successful opposition over the last 20 years to the broadcast, marketing, and sale of adult-rated entertainment to children, has just been informed by the Florida Supreme Court that he has been disbarred from the practice of law today.

This disbarment is in retaliation, among other things, for Thompson's Tyndale House book Out of Harm's Way, published in 2005, which blew the whistle on the Florida Supreme Court's earlier efforts in the 1990's to literally pathologize his faith-based and successful activism against the American entertainment industry. The Florida Bar's insurance carrier was forced to pay Thompson money damages for that earlier assault upon his First Amendment rights, which is the only known payment of damages by any state bar to any lawyer for improper disciplinary efforts. It appears that the State of Florida will be paying Thompson more damages this time around for its illegal, now repeated, use of "discipline" to punish a Christian lawyer for his activism in the public square.

The timing of this disbarment transparently reveals its motivation: This past Friday Thompson filed a federal civil rights action against The Bar, the Supreme Court, and all seven of its Justices. This rush to disbarment is in retribution for the filing of that federal suit. With enemies this foolish, Thompson needs only the loyal friends he has.

Thompson looks forward to successfully litigating his federal claims, now before US District Court Judge Marcia Cooke in the Southern District of Florida.

Thompson always wanted to own a Bar. Now, armed with multiple US Supreme Court rulings that no state bar can do what it has done to Thompson, he is set to own that Bar.

Contact Jack Thompson at 305-666-4366 or amendmentone@comcast.net.

Vermont

Filing a Complaint Against a Judge in Vermont

by Lawrence Agee, MD

My experience in Vermont was very similar to that of others. When I tried to file a complaint against a judge, I was told to attend the judicial conduct hearings, which occur every six years. I did attend and was given all of three minutes to speak in a room crowded with lawyers anxious to take the podium and praise the fine judges. I was the last speaker. After I spoke for my three minutes, there was stunned silence. The only thing that happened after that was the moderator declaring the hearing adjourned.

I then attended a session of the legislative committee on judicial performance. I entered a room with several legislators who spoke of administrative things. When I thought I might have my chance to speak, the meeting was adjourned.

I went to the Office of the Attorney General to speak with him directly. I was told he would not meet with me, but I could write a letter.

I wrote a letter outlining my grievances. The letter was forwarded to the judicial conduct board. I received a letter saying they would look into my complaint. Weeks went by, and no one contacted me to see my evidence or to speak with me. Then I received another letter telling me that a determination had been made that there was no evidence of wrongdoing; case closed. But no one had spoken to me. I didn't understand.

Then I decided to sue the judge in federal court. He was provided a lawyer by the state. I was not provided a lawyer. The law firm that represented him now has one of its founding partners sitting in the US Congress. (He ran on a platform of looking out for the little guy.)

The lawsuit was filed, and his defense was, "I'm immune." They filed a motion to dismiss, and guess what? Dismissed. I filed a motion to reinstate, and guess what? Denied. I filed an appeal to the Second Circuit Court. Guess what? Denied. I then appealed to the US Supreme Court. Guess what? Denied.

Each denial was based upon "absolute judicial immunity." I tried to point out that the judge helped a lawyer steal a huge sum of money from me. They didn't care. I tried to point out that the judge violated his sworn oath of office. They didn't mind.

The week that my case was dismissed by the US Supreme court, I learned that I was now "under investigation" by two state medical boards. This initiating party of this prosecution can be traced to the same building where the judge sits on the bench. Paperwork in my possession proved that the judge and the lawyer who took my money both spoke to the prosecutor around the time this prosecution began. This case involved a divorce after a six-month marriage. The judge ignored my prenuptial agreement. What about my right to contract, guaranteed by Article 1 Section 10 of the US Constitution? Don't judges take an oath to uphold the Constitution? Is this oath meaningless?

I am now unemployed. The lawyer referred to above recently participated in a foreclosure action against my home.

See also: Chasing the Illusion of Justice

See also: How Doctors and Lawyers Are Disciplined

DeSoto County, Florida

Florida JAILer-in-Chief on Trial for Whistleblowing
Trial Date: August 20, 2007

by Nancy Jo Grant

On March 22, 2006, I blew the whistle on the racketeering, closed door hearings, forced plea deals, bogus trials, and the warehousing of inmates in the DeSoto County Courthouse, 12th Judicial Circuit, and DeSoto County Jail in Florida. Three months later, on June 29, 2006, I was arrested, and a gag order was placed on me. As a condition of my bond, which was set at $50,000, Judge James S. Parker ordered that I was not allowed to talk to any inmates or any inmate's family members about anything going on at the jail or courthouse.

For six years I collected evidence that proves the following: All who pass through the criminal justice system have no defense prepared on their behalf. The innocent and guilty go the same route; that is, they are kept in jail until they break down and take plea deals. In 100 percent of the cases I researched, not one person had a defense prepared by the private retained attorneys or the public defenders. The only information in their case files was prosecution side only. The attorneys are all getting paid for doing nothing, hence the racketeering behind closed doors, forcing inmates to accept plea deals, warehousing them until they do.

In 2005 I formed a non-profit corporation, Florida Pro se Bar, Inc., to educate individuals who choose to represent themselves (inside and outside the walls). The State of Florida charged me with Unlicensed Practice of Law, pursuant to Florida Statute 454.23, a felony with a penalty of five years in prison. The Florida Bar is using this statute to attack any person in Florida who interferes in their commerce.

I am being maliciously prosecuted for blowing the whistle on the illegal activities by the court and jail. The assistant state attorney created jury instructions just for my case, and when these jury instructions are used at my trial on August 20, 2007, they will restrict our First Amendment rights to speak and write. These jury instructions, for example, make it against the law for a private person to contact an official, such as a clerk of court, for information on behalf of an incarcerated person.

The judge I blew the whistle on was the judge who illegally took my four children in 1984. My story received nationwide attention when it was aired on a televised documentary, and Judge Parker returned my children the next morning. That experience made me what I am today: a civil rights advocate.

I am to be tried by the same court that I accused of racketeering, holding the closed door hearings, forcing plea deals, conducting bogus trials, and warehousing inmates.

For further information please contact:

Nancy Jo Grant
803 E Magnolia St
Arcadia FL 34266
(863) 494-0363

Tampa, Florida

Tampa, Florida, where innocence is considered "a free pass granted by the prosecutor."

The trial judge, described as "somnambulate," wouldn't allow his attorney to tell the jury that he had a legally prescribed drug.

Not knowing whether he was a drug abuser or a drug peddler (translation: the state knew nothing about any commission of a crime), the court sentenced him to 25 years for filling his legal prescription.

After serving two years in prison, an appellate court overturned his conviction, and the prosecutor went after him again for the same non-crime, in violation of the Fifth Amendment. [Full story]

Santa Clara County, California

Judge Leslie Nichols of the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, California, presided over a medical malpractice case I brought against a doctor who operated on 20 of the wrong parts of my body, including the wrong leg. I was mutilated by this guy. He even carved X's into my hips, operated on my knees without my consent, and even operated in my genital area without reason or consent, but the judge ignored all the evidence against the doctor, and the doctor's lawyer didn't even bother to present any evidence refuting all my evidence.

But the judge ruled against me anyway, never mentioning what the doctor did to me, he just talked about what I did to the doctor--I picketed outside his office and (horrors) I sometimes referred to the doctor by his last name instead of calling him Dr. ___. The judge apparently thinks that's worse than mutilating my body. Nichols treated me like an uppity woman daring to bring down this "great" doctor.

The judge also ignored the fact that my lawyer waived my right to a jury trial behind my back. I sent the judge proof of this before he made his final ruling, but he said in his final ruling that he was satisfied that I knowingly waived my right to a jury trial. The judge knew I couldn't afford to appeal.

I had most of the filing fees waived because I was broke. So he knew he could make the most outrageous ruling and that I wouldn't be able to do anything about it. (I was quoted by several lawyers that it would cost about $40K for an appeal). I am recovering from 8 hours of surgery, I need at least 2 more surgeries, and it is not known if my knees or other parts will ever be fixed. My life has been destroyed, I lost my business because I have been so depressed, and I am in almost constant pain because of what that butcher did to my knees, but I will never be able to get any compensation because of what this judge did. Judge Nichols also ruled that I had to pay the doctor's attorney's fees of almost $9000, and I eventually had to file for bankruptcy because of this.

And as if this weren't enough, later, when I posted on the Internet about how the doctor lied under oath to get a restraining order against me, the judge threatened to throw me in jail for five days for contempt if I didn't remove that post. I spoke with five lawyers, including a constitutional specialist, and they all were baffled by what this judge was doing to me. They all said that what I had posted what not in violation of the judge's ruling that I not discuss the medical malpractice case. I am thoroughly disgusted with this judge and the legal system, which only protects the rights of the wealthy.

V. Swan

Miami, Florida

No wrong found in false court records
Secret dockets, missing files and deleted records play into investigation of judicial misconduct.

by Dan Christensen and Patrick Danner
Miami Herald
May 20, 2007

An investigation into the planting of false court records by two Miami-Dade judges found no wrongdoing, even though the phony information remains on the public docket in one case.

The Judicial Qualifications Commission's inquiry also missed evidence of false records in another case after the clerk's office deleted it from the public docket.

A spokeswoman for the JQC, an independent agency that investigates complaints of judicial misconduct, declined to comment.

The JQC opened an inquiry into the actions of Miami-Dade Circuit judges Daryl Trawick and Victoria Sigler after receiving a complaint from a Broward circuit judge in February.

The complaint alleged "judicial misconduct based on the falsification of records," according to a Feb. 21 letter written by JQC Executive Director Brooke Kennerly. In Florida, it is a crime for anyone, even a judge, to falsify court records.

In the case handled by Trawick, 10 phony docket entries purported to show that criminal charges were dropped against a defendant who was cooperating with prosecutors and police. In fact, the informant pleaded guilty to laundering drug money.

In the case handled by Sigler, an informant pleaded guilty to attempted murder and kidnapping, but the plea was not docketed.

And for nearly a year, misleading entries were added to the docket that made it appear that a trial was pending.

Through a court spokeswoman, Trawick and Sigler acknowledged last month that they approved altering the court dockets. They explained the secrecy was supposed to be temporary and wasn't intended "to arbitrarily conceal case activity."

"In both instances, both the defense and the prosecution approached the court and jointly requested the placement of temporary entries on the docket to protect defendants cooperating with law enforcement," said court spokeswoman Eunice Sigler, who is not related to the judge.

DEAD-END INQUIRY

The JQC began to check out the Feb. 13 complaint against the two judges, but its inquiry went nowhere fast, according to a letter that offers a rare glimpse of how the secretive JQC does its job.

"A review of the dockets for the two cases you listed does not reveal any factual basis for action by the commission," Kennerly wrote to the complainant, Broward Judge Robert Lance Andrews.

By then, the phony records in Trawick's case had been erased from the public docket.

Eunice Sigler said the false entries were deleted by "a supervisor within the Clerk of Courts, most likely after receiving notice of an error in the docket."

Still, the JQC could have found the records if it had requested access to the clerk's non-public docket.

Mike Henderson, a top assistant to clerk Harvey Ruvin, said the deleted false entries in the case of Salim "Johnny" Batrony still exist on a non-public side of the clerk's electronic docket.

He gave a copy of that information to reporters.

The JQC, which can issue subpoenas, has the authority to obtain such information, but never sought access to it, according to Ruvin and Henderson.

The false information was on the public docket for more than four years before it was deleted between late August and October after The Miami Herald asked about it.

Now the case file also is missing.

According to court spokeswoman Eunice Sigler, clerks typically insert into the file a written explanation as to why docket changes were made.

"But because the original file cannot be located, the clerk's office has no way of giving us further information," Sigler said.

"PHONIED UP" DOCKET

Batrony's Miami lawyer, Paul Petruzzi, has said the clerk's office "phonied up" the docket at the direction of Trawick and an assistant state attorney to allow Batrony to work undercover. Trawick now is assigned to the civil bench.

The JQC's inquiry regarding Judge Sigler involved the docket in the case of Michael Scott Segal. Kennerly's letter said the JQC found no evidence of false docket entries. But a recent review by The Miami Herald shows the false entries remain on Segal's public docket.

Segal, who cooperated with authorities, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and kidnapping at an unusual secret hearing at a Miami-Dade police station on May 13, 2003, according to a transcript obtained by The Miami Herald.

Segal's plea, taken by Sigler, was not docketed.

Kennerly declined to be interviewed because JQC investigations are confidential until formal charges are filed. If no charge is filed, they remain confidential forever. Andrews, the judge who filed the complaint, did not comment.

The Florida Supreme Court has said it is examining the falsification of court records to protect informants--a practice Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle's office said has gone on quietly for decades.

[Source]

Ocala, Florida

The Income Tax Saga of Eddie Kahn

by Eddie Kahn

. . . I have no doubt we will ultimately be successful. The reason is the U.S. Attorney is lying and cheating to get a conviction. We are dealing honestly and in truth. I will give you and idea of what we are dealing with. The Fourth Amendment to the constitution of the United States of America says that the plaintiff in a criminal case must file a "complaint" alleging the specific things that the Defendant did to constitute a crime. It must be sworn to and signed under penalty of perjury. It must have a supporting affidavit as well. The arrest warrant must have an affidavit of probable cause attached to it to justify someone's arrest.

The U.S. Attorney has none of those things! In other words, the plaintiff has not "complained" against me. There is no valid arrest warrant. And yet, the FBI kidnapped me from Panama and took me to Miami. The IRS took me from there to Ocala, Florida. I went before a magistrate. I said, "I want a copy of the verified complaint and supporting affidavit." The magistrate looked at me. The U.S. Attorneys looked at me. Nobody said a word on the record. The magistrate then said no bond, go straight to jail.

What they did was totally illegal. They are very arrogant about it, as well. The Bible talks about "spiritual wickedness in high places." In my personal experience, I can tell you it is that way in the Federal government today. [Full story]

Durham, North Carolina

Petition for a Federal Investigation of Racketeering and Corruption in Durham, North Carolina

submitted by Randolph Baird

The citizens of Durham, North Carolina, for too long have been forced to bear the burden of a city government which presents the appearance of being manifestly corrupt. Millions of federal grant dollars disappear without any accounting; vice rings appear to operate without interference (there were no arrests for prostitution by the Durham police department in 2004 or 2005); police auctions lose money; what funds that are acquired end up being distributed privately into the hands of a few, instead of benefiting the pubic. Reporters who get too close to these matters end up being jailed (Demorris Lee). In the past, police have been handed blank warrants to fill out whenever needed. Suspicion of payoffs taint criminal prosecutions (Leon Brown).

The result of all this is that gangs flourish, violence is unchecked, pastors use discretionary funds to smuggle their endangered young people out of the city, and basic city services deteriorate.

The majority of the people of Durham want a principled, professional criminal justice system in which criminal allegations are investigated promptly and fairly; the innocent are not prosecuted; and personal and political considerations do not pervert or corrupt the administration of justice in any way.

Yet criminal racketeering combinations, involving perhaps even many individuals associated with both law enforcement and the courts, have evidently been too powerful for local officials to be able to overcome. In such a situation federal intervention, through investigations by the Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section, and the FBI, is the only practical solution.

We therefore call upon the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice to commence an immediate investigation of the courts, judiciary, law enforcement agencies, and the civic government of Durham; to ascertain the extent of the corruption of public elected and appointed officials; the influence exerted upon these officials by local criminal vice syndicates; and the means by which honest administration may be restored to the city. [Source]

Irvine, California

Chasing the Illusion of Justice

by Lawrence Agee, MD

My first experience in the courts occurred after a girl from Irvine, California, bilked me out of $8,300 in a scam. I filed a lawsuit. The attorney fees were $20,000. I was forced to fly to California, cross country, on about six different occasions for depositions, to attend trials, etc. I had to take time off from work. During the litigation, the opposing lawyer made threats against my career. During the trial, I witnessed six people take the stand and lie through their teeth. At the end of all this, I was told to pay the person who robbed me several thousand dollars. This was very unsatisfying. When I tried to report perjury to the proper public officials, they did little more than shrug their shoulders and quip "Perjury, ha! Happens all the time."

When I tried to hire an appellate lawyer, I was asked to pay $25,000 up front. I declined and did it myself. After one year of preparation, I found myself at the "appeals court" along with about 50 other cases that morning. I was given about one minute to argue my appeal and was then cut off. What a joke. $40,000 to recover $8,300? And I never got the $8,300 back.

This was my first experience with the courts. My second, third, fourth, and fifth experiences were much worse and left me unemployed and impoverished. Each time the criminal and liar "won."

Ayer, Massachusetts

Travesty of Justice

by Steven A. Swan

The corruption of the federal criminal justice system must be experienced to be believed.

From 1996 to 2002, I was a follower and promoter of the teachings of nationally known income tax protester [sic] Irwin Schiff. I truly believed Schiff's teachings (that the federal income tax is entirely voluntary). I was so convinced that for six years I did everything I could think of to try to disseminate Schiff's teachings to others.

Then in March 2003, the government indicted me for 18 tax felonies. Seventeen of the 18 counts against me were for filing tax returns for myself or preparing them for others which I knew and believed to be false. However, I did not believe they were false, so I should not have been found guilty.

The U.S. attorney prosecuting me (Colantuono) and my judge (Barbadoro) knew I was not guilty, but they prosecuted me anyway. Unfortunately, I could not overcome "the awesome power of the federal government" and convince my jury that I was not guilty.

In July 2004, Judge Barbadoro sentenced me to six years in federal prison, where I remain.

Polk County, Florida

Being a Marine and fighting in Vietnam for his country was nothing compared to Allan Heuton's current battle.

Heuton is the primary director of the Polk County branch of Florida Jail4Judges. He wants to be the first point of contact to help people who are seeking true reform of the judicial system in Polk County.

Under current law, Heuton said, the judiciary is entirely self-regulated, and this has led, in many instances, to intolerable abuses of judicial discretion. These have involved conflict of interest, denial of due process, withholding of evidence and other violations of individuals' constitutional rights, including arbitrary and unjustified fines, sanctions, seizure of property, and detention, he said.

"I saw other Marines die when we were at war," Heuton said. "I stood right there while they took their last breath and were put into body bags. They gave their lives so that we could live in a country that upheld our rights as citizens. I'm going to fight this battle right here on our soil until changes are made."

United under the banner of Jail4Judges is a broad coalition of people, from all backgrounds, professions and political persuasions, who are dedicated to the mission of reforming the judiciary. By means of petition, voters in Florida can compel the state Legislature to place the JAIL proposal on the ballot for voter approval.

The JAIL proposal would create special grand juries to investigate complaints against judges. These grand juries would have the power to discipline judges by levying fines, removing them from the bench and, where appropriate, subjecting them to criminal proceedings before special trial juries. [Full story]

Tempe, Arizona

I liked your piece about judges. One thing a lot of folks don't realize is that many corporations, especially insurance companies, pay judges "speaking fees" (bribes) of five grand or more, and send them for free to posh vacation resorts to give their "speeches" (to bored company lawyers). Then, insurance company victims wonder why judges, especially on the appellate level, decide against them nearly eighty percent of the time, even in clear cut cases of insurer wrongdoing. (tripsforjudges.com has some info on this.)

Here's another rotten thing judges do. They tell the jury they must decide against a defendant, according to the law and the judge's instructions, but this is a lie. Every American jury has the right to pre-empt a bad law, ignore the judge and even the facts, and decide someone is innocent solely on the basis that the law is bad. Judges never tell juries this since they want all the power, and even defense lawyers are too afraid of judges to let the cat out of the bag. I have never heard of a defense lawyer informing a jury of this right. Judges even ruled that they are not required to inform the jury of this right. Well, of course they'd rule that way, the bums. I just pray I get on a jury some day and get to throw a rotten law in the judge's face. ;')

Jim Mooney, webmaster
www.corporatecrimefighters.com
Tempe, AZ

Nebraska

Federal Appeals Court: Driving With Money is a Crime

by David Jahn

Eighth Circuit Appeals Court ruling says police may seize cash from motorists even in the absence of any evidence that a crime has been committed.

A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that if a motorist is carrying large sums of money, it is automatically subject to confiscation. In the case entitled, United States of America v. $124,700 in U.S. Currency, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit took that amount of cash away from Emiliano Gomez Gonzolez, a man with a "lack of significant criminal history" neither accused nor convicted of any crime.

On May 28, 2003, a Nebraska state trooper signaled Gonzolez to pull over his rented Ford Taurus on Interstate 80. The trooper intended to issue a speeding ticket, but noticed the Gonzolez's name was not on the rental contract. The trooper then proceeded to question Gonzolez--who did not speak English well--and search the car. The trooper found a cooler containing $124,700 in cash, which he confiscated. A trained drug sniffing dog barked at the rental car and the cash. For the police, this was all the evidence needed to establish a drug crime that allows the force to keep the seized money.

Associates of Gonzolez testified in court that they had pooled their life savings to purchase a refrigerated truck to start a produce business. Gonzolez flew on a one-way ticket to Chicago to buy a truck, but it had sold by the time he had arrived. Without a credit card of his own, he had a third-party rent one for him. Gonzolez hid the money in a cooler to keep it from being noticed and stolen. He was scared when the troopers began questioning him about it. There was no evidence disputing Gonzolez's story.

Yesterday the Eighth Circuit summarily dismissed Gonzolez's story. It overturned a lower court ruling that had found no evidence of drug activity, stating, "We respectfully disagree and reach a different conclusion... Possession of a large sum of cash is 'strong evidence' of a connection to drug activity."

Judge Donald Lay found the majority's reasoning faulty and issued a strong dissent.

"Notwithstanding the fact that claimants seemingly suspicious activities were reasoned away with plausible, and thus presumptively trustworthy, explanations which the government failed to contradict or rebut, I note that no drugs, drug paraphernalia, or drug records were recovered in connection with the seized money," Judge Lay wrote. "There is no evidence claimants were ever convicted of any drug-related crime, nor is there any indication the manner in which the currency was bundled was indicative of drug use or distribution."

"Finally, the mere fact that the canine alerted officers to the presence of drug residue in a rental car, no doubt driven by dozens, perhaps scores, of patrons during the course of a given year, coupled with the fact that the alert came from the same location where the currency was discovered, does little to connect the money to a controlled substance offense," Judge Lay concluded. [Full decision]

[Source]

Creek County, Oklahoma

Ex-Judge Gets Four Years for Indecent Exposure

by Murray Evans, AP

BRISTOW, Okla. (Aug. 8) - Former Oklahoma judge Donald Thompson was sent to prison for four years Friday for exposing himself by using a sexual device while presiding over jury trials.

Special Judge C. Allen McCall also ordered that Thompson, 59, pay a $40,000 fine. Thompson was convicted on June 29 on four felony courts of indecent exposure for incidents that took place in his court room in Creek County.

McCall denied motions by Thompson's attorneys to either suspend the sentence or to let Thompson serve prison time on the four counts concurrently, which would have meant Thompson would serve only one year of prison time.

"This is not just a one-time incident, this is a continuing series of offenses," McCall said during the sentencing hearing.

McCall, who usually sits on the bench in Comanche County, said he did not believe the accusations against Thompson were fabricated, as Thompson had claimed.

"People who are out to get a judge find an opponent. They don't concoct a story, especially one this bizarre," McCall said.

Thompson showed no reaction when he was sentenced. McCall denied a defense motion that Thompson be allowed to remain free pending an appeal, despite assurances from Thompson's wife, Paula, and older brother, Jim Thompson of Bristow, that Donald Thompson was not a flight threat. Jim Thompson said his brother was "someone you're proud to walk down the street with."

Donald Thompson was allowed a brief visit with family members before being placed in handcuffs and taken to the state Correction Department's Lexington Assessment and Reception Center.

Thompson served as a state legislator and spent almost 23 years on the bench before he retired in 2004. His former court reporter, Lisa Foster, testified at his trial that she saw Thompson expose himself during trials at least 15 times between 2001 and 2003. Prosecutors said he used a device known as a penis pump during four trials between 2002 and 2003.

Thompson, a married father of three grown children, testified that the penis pump was given to him as a joke by a longtime hunting and fishing buddy.

"It wasn't something I was hiding," he said.

He said he may have absentmindedly squeezed the pump's handle during court cases but never used it to masturbate.

Foster told authorities that she saw Thompson use the device almost daily during the August 2003 murder trial of a man accused of shaking a toddler to death. A whooshing sound could be heard on Foster's audiotape of the trial. When jurors asked the judge about the sound, Thompson said he hadn't heard it but would listen for it.

Police built a case against the judge after a police officer testifying in a 2003 murder trial saw a piece of plastic tubing disappear under Thompson's robe. During a lunch break, officers took photographs of the pump under the desk.

Investigators later checked the carpet, Thompson's robes and the chair behind the bench and found semen, according to court records.

Prosecutor Richard Smothermon said McCall handed down a proper sentence.

"I thought the judge did the right thing," Smothermon said. "He treated this defendant the same as every other defendant in Oklahoma.

"Any sex crime is a serious crime. People with sexual deviances are a danger to society."

Defense attorney Clark Brewster said there were grounds for appeal. "There was repeated, persistent error throughout the trial," he said.

He said Thompson should have been freed pending appeal.

"If this guy is denied bail, then who ever gets bail?" he asked.

Brewster said he'll ask the state Court of Criminal Appeals early next week to overturn McCall's decision not to allow Thompson to remain free during the appeals process. Thompson's attorneys have 10 days to file notice of an appeal of the verdict with that court and 30 days to file the actual appeal.

The office of state Attorney General Drew Edmondson would handle any appeal, said Smothermon, the district attorney for Pottawatomie and Lincoln counties, who was specially appointed to prosecute the case.

A presentencing report prepared by Carmelia Brossett, a senior probation officer for the state Department of Corrections, said Thompson refused to undergo psychosexual testing and that "Thompson's denial of the offense would likely present difficulty, if not inability for treatment providers to provide meaningful and beneficial sex-offender treatment."

Brossett recommended Thompson serve a prison term of an unspecified length. The jury that convicted Thompson recommended that he sentenced to a year in jail for each of the four felonies.

In the presentencing report, Foster said that in her 15 years of working with Thompson, she could not recall him ever changing a jury's verdict.

"He voiced to me on more than one occasion that 12 people's opinions were better than one," she said in the report. "He always sentenced in accordance with the jury's verdict. I believe he should be held to his own standard. I believe that this jury wanted Don Thompson to serve four years in the state penitentiary, and I agree."

[Source]

Phoenix, Arizona

Often-tardy J.P. off the bench during investigation

by Carol Sowers
for the Arizona Republic
August 18, 2006

The Arizona Supreme Court on Friday took a longtime northeast Phoenix justice of the peace off the bench temporarily, pending the outcome of a secret investigation.

This is not the first time Justice of the Peace Jacque McVay, has been in hot water with the high court. Elected in 1989, she has been repeatedly reprimanded for chronic tardiness, leaving litigants, counsel and witnesses waiting.

McVay, who presides over the Dreamy Draw Precinct, will not be up for re-election until 2008. She could not be reached for comment.

Keith Stott, director of the Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct, confirmed Friday that a complaint has been filed against McVay, but said its content is confidential unless disciplinary action is taken against her.

The complaint, however, triggered a commission investigation, prompting the high court to assign her to new duties until the case is resolved.

Chief Justice Ruth McGregor wrote that McVay's reassignment during the investigation does not mean that "formal charges against the judge are imminent."

Stott said it is not uncommon for justices of the peace, who handle small claims, civil suits, traffic violations and criminal misdemeanors, to be reassigned.

McVay's new duties will be supervised by Maricopa County Superior Court Presiding Judge Barbara Mundell. She did not return phone calls asking for details of McVay's new job or who will replace her in the Dreamy Draw Precinct, which covers cases from Seventh Street to Tatum Boulevard and Jomax Road to Lincoln Drive.

McVay will continue to receive her $84,500 salary and benefits during her reassignment.

Stott could not say when the investigation will be completed or whether a whether a public hearing will be held in the latest allegations against her.

The commission began scolding McVay for her tardiness in 1994, then again in 2003 and 2004.

She was censured last year, after court employees in 2004 reported that she was chronically 30 minutes late for morning hearings, and up to an hour late for afternoon sessions.

The commission findings said she he would often leave for "extended periods" during her lunch hour, without explaining the reasons.

"Despite strong and repeated warnings," the judge continued to be late, according to the commission.

McVay admitted she was often tardy and agreed to be on time.

Louisville, Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A Target 32 investigation took a closer look at the state child protection system one year after NewsChannel 32 first raised serious questions about an agency that saw a dramatic rise in the numbers of children it removed from homes.

WLKY had to go to court just to air its initial reports after an attempt by the state to stop it from showing what's currently going on.

While everyone's story can't be told, Target 32 can provide an in-depth look at one case that exemplifies the things represented in hundreds of complaints it's received: allegations of quick trigger child removal with no proof of parental wrongdoing, and then retaliation against those who fight back.

Vanessa Shanks of Hardin County provided WLKY with video of a confidential hearing held to remove her children from her custody.

"They took them right after court, so I didn't get to say goodbye," said Shanks. "They just went straight to my house and removed the kids for one and a half missed days of school."

While it may take weeks, months or years to take someone's freedom away in a circuit courtroom, on May 16, 2005, it took 17 minutes to take three of Shanks' children away in a family courtroom.

The videotaped hearing consisted of a judge, a state-appointed attorney to represent the children, a cabinet for a Health and Family Services attorney, and a witness: state social worker Carlonda Fields.

"Truancy was the original allegation, but then they came to the house and said the home was unsafe because I just got done doing laundry and there was a bleach bottle with the cap off on the floor," said Shanks. "So they said my home was unsafe for children."

The only proof offered of educational neglect is testimony from the social worker that one of the three children they removed had a kindergarten reading level even though he was 11 years old. As for the number of school days missed, no school records were offered--just an opinion from the case worker.

"The truancy was because she was unable to get up and get them to school," said Fields.

On the allegation of medical neglect, no evidence of that is offered during the preceedings for two of the three children. Fields testified that the other child, who has spina bifida, had missed some doctor's appointments.

According to the video, the judge said he's heard enough about 17 minutes into the hearing.

"I think all the essential requirements have been established, and I find the requirements of the statute have been satisfied and that order of detention be issued for each of the three children," said the judge.

"I didn't see my children for 11 months. It is the hardest thing you can go through," said Shanks. "It's like someone close to you just dies, like you don't have a part of you anymore."

When she fought back--appealing the ruling--Shanks said they took her other three children away and then briefly removed 14 children from her extended family.

Target 32 tried to check out this allegation but CPS would not comment about individual cases.

Attorney Bob Bishop said he couldn't believe what he saw when he took Shanks' case and reviewed the hearing that he said contained no proof of wrongdoing.

"There has to be something, some evidence of wrongdoing that has placed a child in danger or has hurt the child, and a pattern of conduct not due to poverty alone," said Bishop.

"He would come home and say 'You wouldn't believe this. I just can't believe these stories I'm hearing.'" said Bishop's wife, Jennifer Bishop. "Then it happened to us."

According to the Bishops, social workers removed their adopted daughter from their home, too.

"They said if you don't cooperate with us, we're going to take all of your children away, and we're going to charge you with emotional abuse," said Jennifer Bishop.

Fortunately for Shanks, the Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled that the judge made a mistake in allowing her three children to be removed, and she is going to get them back.

The court unanimously ruled the state acted in haste and offered no proof of abuse or neglect.

While endings like this are rare, records show terminations of parental rights have been upheld in the majority of such cases before the court over the past 10 years.

The man in charge of CPS, Social Services Commissioner Tom Emberton Jr., said he would not discuss individual cases like Shanks', but he did comment on the issue of retaliation--the most common theme of the hundreds of complaints WLKY has received.

"I have not seen any signs of retaliation and will not tolerate retaliation," said Emberton. "We deal with a tremendous number of families. Isolated cases are going to surface, and we will address these issues very quickly and appropriately when they do."

Emberton announced that an independent group has been named to come in and review the way parental rights are terminated in Kentucky.

That adoption task force comes in addition to an investigation of CPS under way by the state inspector general.

To submit a complaint, please call Robert Benvenuti at the Office of the Inspector General, at 502-564-2888.

[Source]

Cleveland, Ohio

For Immediate Release

July 7, 2006

After spending five weeks in jail, Carol Fisher was released from jail this afternoon. Carol is an activist with "The World Can't Wait-Drive Out the Bush Regime" in Cleveland, Ohio. Her arrest, trial, and conviction began when she put up a couple of "Bush Step Down" posters on telephone poles in Cleveland Heights on January 29, 2006. (Case fact sheet)

Two separate court orders were issued releasing her from the Cuyahoga County Jail, cutting short her original two-month sentence. Yesterday, July 6, the court of appeals finally granted her an appeal bond, letting her out of jail while her trial and conviction are reviewed by a higher court. Today, the original trial judge, Timothy McGinty, released her on time served, indicating that she had spent enough time in jail. But she is still under court order to take an "anger management class" and do two years' probation with community service.

Carol has consistently declared that she has nothing to apologize for and is not guilty. Throughout this whole ordeal, she has continued to build resistance to the Bush regime, even while in jail. She thanks the many people who sent letters of support, books, and articles to keep her up on world events, and donations for her legal defense. World Can't Wait [and Judicial Horror Stories] stands with Carol Fisher, and will continue to fight this gross injustice.

As we say in the Call for World Can't Wait, "If we speak the truth, they will try to silence us. If we act, they will try to stop us. But we speak for the majority, here and around the world, and as we get this going, we are going to reach out to the people who have been so badly fooled by Bush, and we are NOT going to stop."

Carol's attorneys, Terry Gilbert and Dan Shields, will continue to fight in the courts for the conviction to be overturned.

World Can't Wait--Drive Out the Bush Regime
Press contact: (216) 633-6200 and cleveland@worldcantwait.org

Oregon, Florida

Judges Who Break the Law--Judges Who Steal

by Bill Sizemore

Citizens across the country are being mugged and robbed by the activist judges, who sit on their state supreme courts. The extent of the theft being perpetrated is staggering; often undermining even the most fundamental right of American citizens to be self-governing.

Let me say right up front, that it is generally unwise to speak evil of dignitaries. By virtue of the offices they hold, judges ought to be afforded honor and respect. Bear in mind, however, that ours is a nation wherein we are ruled, not by men, but by laws. The judges discussed in this column are lawbreakers. They are men and women who have knowingly abused their official positions to corrupt the law and further their own personal political agendas. That being said, here goes. [Read more]

Cleveland, Ohio

Law-Abiding Freedom Fighter Is Assaulted by Police then Jailed by Judge

by Mark Yannone

Carol Fisher appeared in court for sentencing on Friday morning, but sentencing was delayed when the judge demanded that she change her clothes. Ms. Fisher was wearing an anti-Bush T-shirt that sported police-style mug shots of unelected president Bush, unelected vice president Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld under the words "WANTED FOR ILLEGALLY CROSSING BORDERS."

When Carol returned to court Friday afternoon she was still wearing her anti-Bush T-shirt, but Judge Timothy McGinty proceeded with the sentencing anyway. He told Carol that he had never seen someone work so hard to go to jail, to try to become a martyr. He gave her a chance to express remorse for her actions during the altercation with police, but Carol told him that if he was looking for an apology, she was not going to give it. She insisted once again that she had done nothing wrong and that the police officers had attacked her.

Judge Timothy McGinty then sentenced her to 60 days in jail.


UPDATE 06/21/06

Carol Fisher has now been in jail for 3 weeks. I wanted to update everyone on her status, and what you can do.

* She has not gotten out on an appeal bond yet. This is an outrage! What happened is that Carol's attorneys filed an appeal right after she got taken to jail on June 2. Her trial judge, McGinty, immediately denied it (no surprise there). So then an appeal was filed in the court of appeals. But the prosecution, which has to file an "answer" to the court on this motion, has been sitting on this, doing nothing, and the court can't rule on this until this until they recieve the prosecution's answer!

* Carol still has not recieved any of the prescriptions she needs.

* She also needs stuff to read, since it's pretty boring in jail. She has requested that people send her downloaded articles from www.worldcantwait.org, www.revcom.us, and other sites like truthout, commondreams, etc.

All letters need to fit into a standard sized envelope and have a return address on the envelope. Please send correspondence to:

Carol Fisher
Prisoner # SO0257713
1215 W 3rd St
Cleveland OH 44113

* Donate to Carol's legal defense. It costs a lot of money to get transcripts, file appeals, etc. Make checks payable to “Carol Fisher Defense Fund” and mail to:

NION/WCW
PO Box 609034
Cleveland OH 44109


UPDATE 06/04/06

Carol Fisher is a 54-year-old woman who was putting up "Bush Step Down" posters on telephones in Cleveland Heights. For this, she was assaulted by police, charged and convicted of 2 counts of felony assault on police officers. Carol is now in the Cuyohoga County Jail. On June 2, Judge Timothy McGinty sentenced her to 2 months in jail, 2 years probation with community service and mandatory "anger management classes."

This is an outrage! An appeal of her conviction has been filed by her attorneys.

This case has been reported on extensively in the Cleveland Free Times, The Sun Press, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and websites and blogs around the world.

A Fact Sheet on this case, complete coverage, and updates are available at www.worldcantwait.org.

-------------------------

June 2, 2006–Sentencing Day:

9:45 a.m.--As Carol and her supporters entered the lobby of the Justice Center, they were surrounded by deputies who claimed that anyone wearing a political T-shirt was not allowed in the building (including Carol). Luckily, her attorney, Terry Gilbert, happened to arrive on the scene at that moment. Mr. Gilbert demanded to see the written policy against wearing T-shirts with statements on them. Of course, no such policy exists and none was presented. The deputies then asked if the shirt was a protest, further stating that they wanted to circumvent any potential demonstration.

10 a.m.--The sentencing hearing was about to start when deputies ordered Carol to take another drug test, despite the fact that she had already taken one. The court said another drug test was need because the last urine sample was "too diluted." Carol’s urine was “diluted” due to her need to drink water continually because she does not produce saliva, due to medical complications from extensive radiation in her battle against cancer in her jaw. Of course, the urine sample came back drug-free. This delayed the hearing for 1 1/2 hours, making the media and 30 of her supporters wait.

11:30 a.m.--The media and Carol's supporters finally get into the courtroom and are seated. Judge McGinty comes in and immediately points to one of Carol's supporters, ordering that he be removed from the courtroom. McGinty claimed that weeks earlier, this particular man had made a statement after the "guilty" verdict was read, "speaking about justice," and that was not allowed! The deputies then grabbed the man by his coat, pushed him out the courtroom, and escorted him out of the building. Judge McGinty then directed his fire at Ms. Fisher, wearing her now famous T-shirt (“WANTED for Illegally Crossing Borders: The Bush Regime,” which contains mug shots of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Condoleeza Rice), and demanded that she remove her shirt. When she refused, he declared that he was postponing the sentencing until later in the day. He threatened that if Carol didn't change her shirt, he would issue a warrant for civil contempt. He postponed the sentencing for another 4 hours.

4:30 p.m.--Carol, her supporters, and the media returned to the courtroom. Carol was still wearing her T-shirt, but the judge went on with the hearing anyway. In fact, McGinty didn't even mention the shirt until a ways into the hearing, and no warrant was ever produced. During the hearing, almost every statement given by the defense was interrupted continually by McGinty. A resident of Cleveland Heights had just begun to speak as a character witness for Carol when she was also interrupted by the judge, complaining that he didn't want to hear a "political diatribe." This character witness refused to be silenced, kept giving her statement despite her being yelled at by the judge and surrounded by armed bailiffs. She was then thrown out of the courtroom, and escorted out of the building. Shortly after that, another of Carol's supporters was thrown out of the courtroom for "sighing."

Judge McGinty angrily complained that Ms. Fisher has “quite a support network,” having received hundreds of phone calls protesting the verdict from around the country. He went further to say that many of these calls were rude and obscene, and at least one call was being “investigated.”

Carol remained cool and defiant the during the entire proceeding. Not only did she proudly wear her T-shirt, she concluded her statement in court by telling the judge, "You wanted an apology? You want me to show remorse? Forget about it!"


What you can do:

* Funds are urgently needed for the appeal, including about $2000 to get the trial transcript. Donate to “The Carol Fisher Defense Fund” c/o
WCW
PO Box 609034
Cleveland OH 44109

* Join us at a "Speak Out!" for Carol Fisher on Monday, June 5 at 7 p.m. at the corner of Coventry and Euclid Heights Boulevard in Cleveland Heights.

* Post the fact sheet and/or your opinions on this case to websites, listserves, blogs, etc.

* Call Judge Timothy McGinty (216-443-8758) and express your outrage.

* Get your legal organization to be part of Carol's defense: make statements, file friend of the court briefs, etc.

* Have your church group, school group, organization, or club join this battle by sending statements of support, donating funds, etc.

* Send letters to the editor to your local and national newspapers, including Cleveland media at:
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
The Cleveland Free Times
The Sun Press
Please send copies to us at the address below.

The World Can’t Wait–Drive Out the Bush Regime!
PO Box 609034
Cleveland OH 44109
216-633-6200

cleveland@worldcantwait.org
info@worldcantwait.org

Cleveland, Ohio

The following is a speech given by Carol Fisher at a public Speak Out! in Cleveland Heights on May 13, 2006, followed by remarks from her attorney.

(These remarks are slightly edited, in brackets.)

Let’s get an assessment of what happened and where we go from here. The first thing I want to say is: “The World Can’t Wait—Drive Out the Bush Regime!” And the reason I’m saying that is because above all, that is really what’s at issue here. Everything about this case and everything that happened from the moment I put those "Bush Step Down" posters up on the telephone poles and was assaulted by the police has all been about trying to intimidate people who are opposing this regime and doing whatever they can to step up in their way and turn this shit around and create a different future.

So we waged a hell of a battle to get to this point and its been incredibly inspiring from day one, because people were so outraged to see that this kind of thing can happen for the smallest example of someone speaking out against the Bush regime. And from there I have determined and done all I could to steel myself to take a firm stand and refuse to apologize for anything and to say “I did nothing wrong—those police assaulted me.” In spite of all the slander, all the lies from the police, in spite of a trial that was filled with unbelievable bizarre stories from the police about all the things that I did to these cops when in fact the only hard evidence of any injury at all [to them] was three tiny little marks on one cop’s hand. And this is the truth that I am telling you here.

Sometimes it’s hard to even believe that things have gotten to this point. As opposed to what the cops’ injuries were, my arms were bruised up and down, I had scrapes on my face, I was wounded on my mouth, and not only that, humiliated in the hospital, being forced to undress in front of four male police officers, and then again humiliated and attacked over and over again, not only in the media, but also in the trial itself, where in the cross-examination, it was more of an interrogation that lasted two hours, where the prosecution was trying to trap me, and trying to make me lose my temper, and make me fit their profile of a crazy woman. And they didn’t get over with that.

In fact I think the trial itself was a real exposure of how desperately they are trying to whip up a very ridiculous and very conflicting story about what happened that day to cover over the fact that these cops have in general an intimidating attitude toward anybody who raises questions and that this particular cop had vengeance against me because of my anti-Bush stand, and they don’t want people to know that he actually did arrest me unlawfully. [And they are trying to cover over the truth that this case is highly political. It has everything to do with trying to suppress the movement to drive out the Bush regime.] Those are the facts, very basically.

I want to tell you what happened that day when I got thrown into jail after the hearing. The reason this hearing happened is because I sent a letter to the judge. I made a decision: I am not gonna comply with a psychiatric examination that the judge had ordered. I wasn’t gonna comply with the presentencing investigation. I was very, very angry about the fact that it had come to this point--where I was being forced to submit to a psychiatric examination to prove my sanity, when in fact none of this ever should have happened to me to begin with, and my sanity has nothing to do with it. This was part of their ongoing attempt to try to punish anybody who is protesting, to portray them as insane, and throw them into a whole gamut of psychiatric evaluations and even imprisonment in mental institutions.

So I made that decision, and I sent a letter to the judge, and the judge was furious. In the hearing you heard some examples of the way he lashed out. He also said, after he read this T-shirt I’m wearing, “you are delusional if you think George Bush cares what you’re doing. He couldn’t care less. He’s much too busy with other things.”

Well, I’m sorry, but we need to really understand the terms here. What we are doing—what all of us are doing, is definitely and absolutely causing them to tremble and quake in their boots. This whole movement of World Can’t Wait is the last thing they want to see. People taking a firm stand in opposition to every level of repression that they are bringing down is the last thing they want people to be doing.

A lot of people have been saying that Judge McGinty is a fool. He’s just a clown. He’s a nutcase. But the truth is that he concentrates everything that this regime is up to right now. And if you think about it, what he is doing is a whole lot like what George Bush is doing. He comes across like a stupid asshole. But when you look at what he’s saying and what he’s doing and what his whole social base is up to, it’s extremely dangerous, and it’s about everything that we oppose. That’s how we need to look at Judge McGinty.

I stood firm, and I refused to submit to the psychiatric evaluation. It didn’t matter whether I said I will take your presentencing investigation or not, Either way I was going to jail, so I said screw it, I’m going, all right? And in I went, not knowing at that moment that he had also added on an order that I would be sent directly to the psych ward of the jail, with a suicide watch. Okay, so he’s already declaring me crazy regardless of any evaluation. So in I went to the psych pod. And I want to tell you some things about who I met and what went on there, later on.

Right now what I want to tell you is that the moment I walked in there, yet again, the stakes of the struggle became more intense, and the terms were more confusing, and the battle went higher. Because they were all about making me submit to these tests. What they did when I went in there was they said, “you have to meet with these psychiatrists, or you’re going to be sent to North Coast Mental Institution for a 20-day evaluation.” A social worker there was practically begging with me, “You do not want to go there. You should try to talk to these people.”

So I thought about that. And at the moment, when I was in there and I was on my own, I have to say--and I am going to tell you straight out--that I backed down right there. I said OK I am going to go talk to these psychiatrists. I want to be very honest with you about this, because it’s extremely serious that we all look very carefully at what’s important and where we need to draw the line and why, at this point. And if we make a decision at a moment of confusion or make a wrong move, it’s important to talk about that and to learn about it--to strengthen ourselves in the process. So here’s the thing: I convinced myself that if I can just have a minimal interview with these psychiatrists, then it’s better to do that than to go to a mental institution not knowing what kind of vulnerable position I would be put into.

And there are two very important things I was forgetting right there. One is that we have set out on an important political battle right here by saying that these psych evaluations represent something extremely serious for the direction the country is headed in, and it was right to draw a line and say "no," no matter what the consequences. And it was wrong for me to think that I could negotiate my way through. Not because of my own safety but because this is an important symbolic struggle that’s represented right here, far beyond what the deal is with me. The second thing is, they are going to use whatever they did learn from me against me anyway. You know they will.

[I forgot a point I wanted to make here--actually the second very important thing. That point is: We will constantly be confronting pulls to go backward and settle on their terms. We have to struggle against the illusion that there is no other option that what they force on us, when in fact what is critical right now is to be rising to a whole new level that sets a different framework where people are demanding that this reactionary trajectory be stopped in its tracks and we take it on a whole new track to a different future.]

I hope people see what I am saying here. There are a lot of people who have said, “we were so concerned for your safety. It’s true that you were in a much more vulnerable position, and we don’t know what they would do.” Even my daughter was saying, “I was so incredibly worried, and who is going to look out for you?”

Here’s what I said to her, and I firmly believe this. What good is it for me to sacrifice my principles and have to live with that in order to come out unscathed, if actually what is being sacrificed is far more important? Okay, so now I understand that. I understand that much more firmly, and I will go down on that, on this question, or any other question where our future is at stake.

Let me tell you a little bit about these women that I met in the psych ward. Because another thing that people were saying to me is, “Aren’t you afraid to go to jail? You know, you don’t know who you’re going to end up having to... But you don’t know. You’re going to be in the mix with who knows who in there.” And the whole time I’m thinking about the potential of going to jail. And I know this judge wants me back in there, by the way, because he says, “when you come to this sentencing, be prepared to apologize AND admit you’re wrong, or you’re going to jail. Bring your toothbrush." So that’s what his intention is, let’s not be fooled. But when I was going in there, this is what I was thinking: I’m not afraid of jail. I’m not concerned with who all I’m going to be interacting with, because for the most part, I know, they're my people in there.

And that actually is what I found when I got in. In fact these women--the minute I walked in--were so sweet and caring and giving me a lot of tips, showing me the ropes. You know, “Oh, you’re in for felony assault. I know about that one--get thrown down on the sidewalk, yeah, yeah, the knee in the back, uh huh, happened to me too.” Sharing their stories with me. And of course some of the women in there genuinely were hardened criminals. Or genuinely did have some serious mental problems. But I would say 90 or 95 percent of them were actually either set up because they talked back to a cop, defied a cop, kicked them in the shin, or they are serious victims of the system, having been brought up in an environment from a very young age--10 or 11 years old--in the inner city, surrounded by drugs and not knowing any other options. Okay so I don’t consider people like that criminals. And all of these women were dying to know, what are people doing out there? What other options are there? And there was a lot of struggle over praying to God for the solution versus "we gotta fight." And there was a very strong view in the prison of, “we’re all in this together.” Really talking to each other on that level. I could go on and on. It was extremely inspiring to me.

So here we are, and I’ve decided that my stepping back was not the right thing to do. But this battle continues, goddamn it, and we’re not gonna--and I am not gonna--let this break me. And when we make mistakes, you gotta fuckin learn and move on. So I am going to go into that sentencing, and I am going to be prepared to say “NO, I do NOT apologize. I did nothing wrong. I am NOT crazy. And here’s my goddamn toothbrush!"

This is one part of the battle that people are fighting all across this country in one way or another, and maybe people want to speak to some of that. The terms are getting more and more intense, and it’s causing every one of us to really question how we can play the maximum possible role. And here I am, speaking from a megaphone, and getting on the media and everything else. And despite what the judge says, no, I do not enjoy media attention. But I have had to challenge myself to get up and do this because it’s necessary. It’s the same for other people too. We all do need to be very honest about where we are coming from on this.

Here’s me. I’m a volunteer at Revolution Books. I’m a revolutionary communist. I think--and I am more convinced than ever--that what it’s going to need to come down to is a revolution so that we the people can actually have state power. And think about this--really think about this: It is a fact that we actually are capable of running society in a better way than they are. In a fundamentally different and far better way. And it is possible! And I will continue to struggle with people over that. But in the meantime I know that each and every person here and all those people across the country who are agonizing over these questions, trying to figure out what to do, from wherever they are coming from, I know that they all also have an important part to play. And I know that if it comes down to it, if this judge tries to continue to vilify me and label me as crazy and throw me into a mental institution, then I can rely on the people out here to get me out–or to do the same for anybody else this happens to. This is the kind of a movement we need. And this is the kind of people that we need to become. All of us, leaders, developing a widespread, historic, mass initiative that creates a political climate and a culture of change, and rebellion, and opposition, and questioning, and a whole bright new future.

__________________________

Terry Gilbert, one of Carol Fisher's lawyers, made the following comments to Carol's supporters.

I received a copy of the transcript from the May 10 hearing where McGinty sent Carol to jail. Here are some quotes. I don't know whether to laugh or vomit.

"The fact that she's still wearing these protest shirts to her trials tells me that she's not focusing on the issues."

"But I haven't seen anybody in the exact circumstances of Miss Fisher has in her resisting, continuing to resist, hysterical behavior, accusations, ranting and raving about fascism. And this political, somehow aligning her arrest with Bush, and the political ramifications, as if this is part of the Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld response to her, you know. I mean, it's borderline delusional, and I want to find out if her behavior is delusional or not. I don' t think Bush or his group that she has on the shirt here, had much to do with the Cleveland Heights incident."

"I want to find out if there were other hysterical behaviors, martyrdom-type acts, where she's purposely getting arrested, or going through these type of things for attention, or whatever the issues are. Maybe she thinks, in her mind, that going to jail will help the cause, and she wants to sacrifice her freedom for the cause."

"If that be the case, and she's so emotionally charged about the war, WMD's, or the death toll, or the continuing escalation over there, that has nothing to do with her sentencing. I'm concerned about that."

"I don't want somebody going to prison because they think it's going to help a political issue."

Cleveland, Ohio

Uppity Cleveland woman carted to psych hospital by police and ordered to a psych unit by judge

For as long as we have had some kind of mental health system, women who "behave incorrectly" have been ordered to undergo its treatments. At one time or another, feminists, suffragists, menopausal women, and women who question authority in any way have been sent to institutions so that they could recieve "help." The latest woman to get such help is Carol Fisher of Cleveland. Fisher is on the staff of Revolution Books, and on January 28, while she was putting Bush Step Down posters on telephone polls in Cleveland Heights, she was ordered by a police officer to take them down or face a fine. When she complied, she was asked for her ID, which she did not have on her. He then grabbed her by the arm, pushed her against a store window, and knocked her face down onto the sidewalk. He was joined by another officer, and they both pressed their feet against her back until she could not breathe. Her chin was pressed down into the concrete; Fisher has osteoradionecrosis in her jaw from radiation treatments for cancer.

Fisher was handcuffed and shackled. During this time, Fisher yelled out to everyone who passed what the posters were about. One of the police officers then told her, Fisher says, to "Shut up or I will kill you! I am sick of this anti-Bush shit! You are definitely going to the psyche ward."

She was then threatened some more and taken away in an EMS truck. At the hospital, Fisher was asked to undress in front of the police officers, which she refused to do. The officers refused to leave, so a nurse attempted to shield her while she undressed. Fisher says she was then cuffed to the bed, given an IV of some sort, and made to wait hours for a psychiatrist to interview her. By this time, members of her World Can't Wait group were in the emergency room having a confrontation with the police, who refused to let them see Fisher. Someone called the news media, who never made an appearance.

Fisher was eventually released and sent home. On May 2, she went to court and was found guilty of two counts of felonious assault of two police officers. The prosecution's "witnesses" had not seen the alleged assault; rather, they claimed that Fisher lacked respect for authority. It took a jury more than eight hours to find her guilty. According to a letter to the editor of The Free Press, the prosecution misquoted Fisher's testimony and gave the jury incorrect information about the city's arrestable offenses. When asked to clarify the law, the judge refused.

As part of the pre-sentencing procedure, the judge, Timothy McGinty, had Fisher undergo a state psychological exam. He had already surmised publicly that Fisher must be mentally unstable to resist arrest. McGinty then declared her "delusional," and on May 9, ordered her to be incarcerated in a psychiatric unit of the Cuyahoga County Jail in downtown Cleveland, where she now sits and waits; she could face a three-year prison sentence. According to Mark Crispin Miller, who has spoken with Fisher by telephone, Fisher has also been placed on suicide watch, has had her eyeglasses taken from her, and--if she refuses to take the psych exam--she will be sent to North Coast Mental Institute for a 20-day evaluation.

[Source]

Cleveland, Ohio

Brutalized and Arrested in Cleveland for Posting "Bush Step Down" Posters

The following is a firsthand account of police harassment and brutality against a World Can't Wait (WCW) organizer in Cleveland. If anything like this happens to you, let us know ASAP! Contact info@worldcantwait.org.

My name is Carol Fisher, and I am on the staff of Revolution Books in Cleveland, OH. At the bookstore we have been immersed in building and supporting the initiatives of World Cant Wait. Yesterday, January 28, 2006, I had set out from my house to post materials about our upcoming Cleveland event to Drown Out the State of the Union address and the call to march around the White House on February 4.

I drove down a street in Cleveland Heights, another area known for its diversity and progressive history. Before long a cop called from across the street: "Ma'am! Hundred dollar fine unless you take those posters down." He is pursuing me across the street. Damn! OK fine, I say, I will take them down (not wanting to get into a confrontation, because I have lots to do today). But this too is not enough for the cop. He wants my ID. I say I don't have my ID. He grabs my arm. I say let go of me, I am not doing anything wrong, I will take the posters down. People are watching to see what happens, are outraged but very afraid. The cop wont let go, he clearly wants more grief from me, and he is in the spotlight. He wants people to be scared. He pushes me against a store window and next thing I know I am face down on the sidewalk with two cops on top of me, one with his knee in my back. I am trying to call out to people, to tell them what the posters are about. They keep pushing my face into the sidewalk. I cant breathe.

I am 53 years old, not exactly a spring chicken. A hand comes down again to push my chin against the concrete. By this time there are four cops on the scene. My hands are tightly cuffed behind my back. They lift me up and shove me onto a park bench and shackle my legs. I am still calling out, telling people what this is about. One of the cops says to me, "Shut up or I will kill you!" "I am sick of this anti-Bush shit!" "You are definitely going to the psyche ward." Then somebody calls the EMS, and a fire squad shows up.

I am lifted into the EMS truck, hands still cuffed behind my back. At the hospital, I am treated as an arch-criminal. Escorted by four policemen, I shuffle into the emergency room, legs still shackled, covered with leaves and mud. I think to myself, if I were black, I would not have made it this far. I would probably be dead by now. People in the emergency room are shocked by the scene and by what I am saying happened. I probably do look pretty crazy by now.

They put me on a gurney and pull the curtains around. One female nurse and four male cops. I am cuffed to the bed.

After many hours a psychiatrist appears to determine my sanity. I don't want to talk to him, but have no choice.

I don't know it at the time, but outside in the waiting room all hell had broken loose. In a very short period of time, over a dozen WCW people showed up at the emergency room to demand that someone be allowed to see me.

At one point, there was a big confrontation between the WCW people and the police, right in the ER. My supporters said that we weren't going to leave until someone saw me. Some of them were sitting in the waiting room holding the big green WCW posters.

The police threatened WCW folks with arrest! They argued, stood their ground, called this shameful (both to the police but also to the nurses who did nothing to stand against this shit). The cops kept saying that there was no legal right to see me, but people responded that, in Bush's America, the law is whatever the police say it is and that there is a moral and ethical right to check on someone who is in the hospital.

I was released on my own recognizance. The battle is far from over. This is but one example of the attempts that the state, their authorities and spokespeople will make to try to keep us from opposing the crimes of this regime, and especially now, two days before the State of the Union address. Our cause is as righteous as it gets, and no attempts to intimidate or suppress, with threats or laws or physical abuse, should stop us but instead strengthen the resolve, build our organization and further demonstrate to the world that this regime is doomed, they are vicious, and they must be stopped.

As it says in the Call, "If we speak the truth, they will try to silence us. If we act, they will try to stop us. But we speak for the majority, here and around the world, and as we get this going we are going to reach out to the people who have been so badly fooled by Bush and we are NOT going to stop. The future is unwritten. Which one we get is up to us."

Call the Cleveland Heights Police at 216-291-3883. Call Cleveland Heights City Hall at 216-291-4444. Please contact us at cleveland@worldcantwait.org or 216-633-6200.


UPDATE 02/07/06

Thanks for posting my story. It is traveling the world, touching a chord about fascism in America. We were hoping the city would wise up and drop the charges, especially due to all the people supporting me, but no-o-o-o-o. We went to the Cleveland Heights City Council last night, and a dozen people spoke in my behalf and about World Can't Wait, Drive Out Bush. Even though it appeared that some of the council members were seriously considering what was being said, at the end, the mayor read a prepared statement upholding every convoluted lie from the cops and reporting that the grand jury indictments have been handed down.

The battle continues.

Carol Fisher
revbookscle@hotmail.com


UPDATE 02/16/06

“Not Guilty” says woman arrested after hanging anti-Bush posters

by Eric Resnick

CLEVELAND -- The woman arrested and accused of assaulting police officers after hanging World Can’t Wait posters in Cleveland Heights January 28 was arraigned in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court February 16.

Carol Fisher, 53, a resident of the inner-ring suburb known for its liberalism was charged with two counts of assaulting Cleveland Heights police officers Daniel Downey and Mike Frinzl.

According to her statements, Fisher was hanging posters announcing the World Can’t Wait Cleveland action during the State of the Union, when a passing officer told her it was a $100 fine if she didn’t take it down.

Fisher turned and walked toward the poster, in compliance with the officer’s warning. But instead of allowing her to take it down or just issuing a citation, Downey and Frinzl were on top of her “grinding his knee into [Fisher’s] back and [her] face into the sidewalk.”

Fisher said she told the officers she could not breathe. That didn’t matter. Two more officers showed up, and they dragged her to a bench, shackled her legs, and handcuffed her tight enough to cause serious bruising.

Fisher objected to her arrest, telling the officers that “as citizens we have the responsibility to stop the crimes of the Bush regime.”

According to her statements, this inflamed the officers. One told her, “I am sick of this anti-Bush shit,” and they threatened to kill her. “You are definitely going to the psych ward,” said another. And that’s where she ended up, incommunicado, even to her Power of Attorney for health care. University Hospitals personnel were forbidden by the police to allow visitors or for Fisher to make a phone call.

Fisher appeared before Judge Kathleen Sutula, a Republican known throughout legal circles for her partisanship and contempt for defendants. She was flanked by her attorneys, Daniel Shields and Terry Gilbert.

A copy of the indictment was not given to Fisher or her counsel until that morning. Ohio law requires that service be made at least 24 hours prior to the arraignment.

Shields waived the 24-hour notice and entered a plea of “not guilty” on behalf of his client.

Prior to Sutula’s entrance into the courtroom, Gilbert had an altercation with Assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor Deborah Naiman, who is not assigned to Fisher’s case.

In an obvious attempt to show power, and a signal that the case is a priority, Naiman badgered Gilbert across the courtroom.

“What city was this?” Naiman, out of her seat, walking toward Gilbert shouted, “You know and everyone knows it’s against the law to hang posters there. And it’s Cleveland Heights. Not exactly known as a hotbed of Bush support.”

“And that’s not what you do to police,” Naiman continued. “You don’t attack police when they are trying to arrest you.”

Remaining seated, Gilbert maintained his client’s innocence and suggested that the facts will come out in court.

But Naiman’s enthusiasm for the hard line against Fisher is also suggested by case timelines.

The grand jury indicted Fisher February 6, eight days after the arrest.

Felony indictments of this type in Cuyahoga County generally take at least two months.

Sutula set Fisher’s bond at $2,500. Fisher was then taken into custody and held until her bond was processed.

The case is part of a larger growing problem.

Wearing a black t-shirt with mug shots of Bush, Cheney, and other cabinet members, saying “Wanted for war crimes,” Fisher and half a dozen sign bearing World Can’t Wait members held a press conference prior to the arraignment.

Fisher made it clear that she’s not afraid to go to jail, and that her case is part of a bigger problem - the fascism creeping across the United States. At every opportunity, she pointed to the need to drive out the Bush regime.

Fisher said she’s being prosecuted in order to intimidate others who stand up to the growing police state.

“I’m not a wildcat,” said Fisher, “and I’m not crazy.” Both are references to statements put out by Cleveland Heights police. Fisher kept the t-shirt on in court to the amusement of sheriff deputies.

“Judge Satula’s not gonna like seeing that,” they joked.

“The case should be tried in the courts,” said Gilbert following the proceeding.

Gilbert said the city has not yet turned over any of the evidence they claim to have against Fisher, including witness and police statements.

Public Information requests were also made on the city by World Can’t Wait on February 6. To date, they have not responded to those, either. Gilbert said he expects the evidence to show that the police overreacted in a matter that has serious First Amendment and political implications.

“It’s the climate we’re living in,” said Gilbert.

The trial has been assigned to Judge Timothy McGinty.

No schedule has yet been set.

Eric Resnick is a member of World Can’t Wait - Cleveland

Media coverage of the events included:
The Plain Dealer
The Sun Press
WKYC TV3
WEWS TV5
WJW TV8

Case number 476577 docket can be seen here.


UPDATE 02/26/06

You can now read the minutes of the February 6 Cleveland Heights City Council meeting where there was an outpouring of support for Carol Fisher and sentiment against the Bush regime.


UPDATE 03/13/06

On January 28, 2006, Carol Fisher was attacked by Cleveland Heights police as she posted signs saying "Bush Step Down." She was handled violently by the police and arrested, even though she agreed to take the posters down when informed that posting is illegal. When she was shacked hand and foot, one cop said to her, "I'm sick of this anti-Bush shit." She was taken for a psychiatric evaluation (!) where she was forced to strip before male cops, denied the right of a phone call and held for six hours. The Cleveland Heights police have the nerve to say Ms. Fisher attacked them.

The Cuyahoga County’s Court of Common Pleas is rounding out their complicity by working to railroad Ms. Fisher’s trial through the courts. A grand jury was convened and FELONY indictments issued in less than a week! And Carol's trial date is now set for April 3, less than two months after the indictment.

*Why is Carol's case on a such a "fast track"?
*Why did the police attack her for such a minor "offense"?
*Why are the charges (two counts of felony assault on police officers) so severe?

This sort of escalated aggression is what we can look forward to in the era of the "War on Terror" . . . IF we stand silently by. In fostering a climate of fear, oppression and intimidation, the police are attempting to make an example of Ms. Fisher and show the rest of Ohio what happens if you don’t comply with the program. They are trying to establish the appearance of war at home, creating a new normalcy in which our rights are systematically stripped away and we are denied due process.

The attack against Carol is not an isolated incident, but a part of a growing epidemic of intimidation: to silence and punish anyone who steps out against the Bush Regime. In September two men in New York City were arrested for protesting the repression that occurred against the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Two more were arrested in January for protesting the first day of Samuel Alito's confirmation hearings. Seven people were arrested in Greensoro, North Carolina at a protest during Bush's State of the Union speech. And two Black activists were arrested and brutalized in Maryland for the "crime" of handing out flyers to high school students.

"History is full of examples where people who had right on their side fought against tremendous odds and were victorious. And it is also full of examples of people passively hoping to wait it out, only to get swallowed up by a horror beyond what they ever imagined. The future is unwritten. Which one we get is up to us."


UPDATE 03/29/06

by Carol Fisher

In the latest developments, offers from the prosecution for a "settlement" amount to still placing blame on me and attempting to portray my actions as a crime! As you will read in the details below, these "offers" are yet more moves to intimidate, punish, and silence those who step out against the Bush regime.

Yet another pre-trial hearing is happening tomorrow at 9 a.m. at the Justice Center on the 21st floor.

As of now, there is an offer to reduce the charge to a second degree misdemeanor--resisting arrest. Arrest for what? I was arrested without any arrestable crime having been committed--putting up BUSH STEP DOWN posters. Why should I accept a conviction and fine for resisting an arrest that should never have happened?

There is also some talk that I should issue an "apology" (apologize for what?), and pay for treatment of the officers "injuries" (pay for their Band-Aids?). I have been informed that the emergency medical service company is sending me a bill for the EMS van service. All of this shows that all blame is being placed on me, that I am the criminal while all of the authorities continue to cover up the actual crimes committed by the cops, most notably attacking and intimidating me for opposing Bush. The prosecutors, following in step with the City of Cleveland Heights, say that this case is not about opposing Bush. This is a lie that they continue to promote.

The facts show that I was willing to take the posters down as the officer requested. But I was arrested anyway. Yet the prosecution intends to distort the facts, and police still promote the lie that I was arrested because I refused to comply and attacked them. The real point here is, there need to be MORE posters ALL OVER the place demanding an end to the Bush regime! The facts are clear and simple: I was wrongly arrested and assaulted for putting up anti-Bush posters. I was further punished for defying them. What about my injuries, trauma, intimidation, a threat on my life, being labeled a crazy wildcat, held incommunicado for six hours, forced to undress in front of four male policemen, and now the loss of my job? And most of all, what about the fact that all this happened because I put up a poster calling for active opposition to the Bush regime! THIS IS NOT A CRIME! THIS IS AN URGENT NECESSITY!

Most likely, the case will go to trial this Monday, April 3. Your support will make a strong statement that people are not going along with this "new normalcy" of intimidation and repression.


UPDATE 04/01/06

by Carol Fisher

My trial date has been postponed to April 24--a good development! Rally Monday April 3 as planned, to spread the word and say: "No apologies. Drop the charges. Protesting Bush is not a crime!" Meet at 8:30 a.m. at the Cleveland Justice Center, downtown at Ontario Street between Lakeside and St. Clair.

What is happening so far is a clear example of the battle for the future! While we bring the truth to light and fight to end the crimes of the Bush regime and all they represent, the forces in court and government are trying to make me back down, to discourage and intimidate people from speaking out, while bolstering malicious, lying, and repressive practices of the police.

As people know from the last message sent out, the case had been on a very fast track and we expected to go to trial April 3, which severely cut into our ability to prepare. Under this time pressure, the prosecution offered a "settlement," which would still place all blame on me and would portray my actions as a crime. But I said "no deal," and my supporters agree! Meanwhile, the City of Cleveland Heights has made it very clear that they want their police to emerge from this case untainted and victorious. The courts and the government all insist that this case is not about opposing Bush. They and the police are working to cover over and reinvent what actually happened to me that day and to withhold evidence from the defense.

A number of important developments have arisen as a result of my arrest and trial.

1. Widespread, continued outrage over the arrest, and support for my actions exists here and even across the globe.

2. Statements are coming in, exposing other examples of police brutality, politically motivated and otherwise, from Cleveland Heights and elsewhere, which will be publicized in the course of the case.

3. Medical workers are drafting proposals for a manifesto of medical ethics that will uphold patient care over complicity with police in cases in which people are held in police custody in hospitals.

4. Lawyers and law students are being approached to organize themselves to collectively fight police state measures.

These kinds of efforts will not only help win this case, but in a larger sense, strengthen our ability to change the course of history.


UPDATE 04/28/06

Outrageous! Carol Fisher found guilty!

Late today, after a 5-day trial, Carol Fisher was found guilty of two counts of assault on police officers for posting a sign announcing World Can't Wait's protests against Bush's State of the Union address. This is an outrage! Her sentencing will be on June 2. We have a lot of work to do.

From the beginning, this trial was stacked against Carol, and was meant to be a vicious message to anyone who thinks or acts outside of the box. Judge McGinty wouldn't allow Carol and her attorneys the ability to wage a defense. The only "relevant" testimony was that provided by the state. No politics was allowed into the trial. Nothing about the brutal and arrogant reputation of the Cleveland Heights police. Nothing about how Carol was the one assaulted by the police and then humiliated at University Hospital when she was taken there for her injuries.

The testimony of a courageous EMS worker who was afraid for Carol's safety from the police rampage was cut to a mere 4 minutes. Only one character witness was allowed, and then only for a couple minutes. The judge refused to inform the jury of a serious lie by the prosecution during closing testimony.

But even after this outrageous verdict, it still wasn't over! The judge actually praised the "professionalism" of these cops and said they "they have a bright future!" He then ordered that Carol submit to a psychological exam as part of the pre-sentencing investigation! He said that he thinks she might have a "martyr complex." The judge told Carol that she better be prepared to apologize at her sentencing or else "bring your toothbrush with you." This was all too much for Carol's supporters, and many stormed out of the courtroom in response. One supporter, a professor at Case Western Reserve University, was ejected from the hallway after calling the prosecutor a liar. Another WCWer was escorted out of the building by an armed sheriff.

This was a truly sickening display, and one which has big implications for anyone who refuses to go along with the Bush program. They are trying to send a message: shut up, submit to authority, or you will pay the price.

But Carol's message is: "This will not be easy. If we speak the truth, they will try to silence us. If we act, they will try to stop us. But we speak for the majority, here and around the world, and as we get this going we are going to reach out to the people who have been so badly fooled by Bush and we are NOT going to stop. And we are NOT going to apologize."

Those of us who hate the direction the Bush regime is taking things, who will not have Iran attacked in our name, who will not sit silently by as our rights are whittled away, need to continue to organize. The World Can't Wait! Drive Out the Bush Regime invites you to a Speak Out at Coventry Yard tomorrow, Saturday, April 29, at 3 p.m. Is the current order moving toward fascism? Come and speak your mind and listen to others. Our lives and the lives of many around the world may depend on it.