Monday, April 16, 2012

Did Judge William Acker Jr. Engage In A Criminal Conspiracy By Corruptly Dismissing My Lawsuit?

Judge William M. Acker Jr. (right),
with Stanford professor Jack Rakove

A federal judge has unlawfully dismissed the lawsuit over my wrongful termination at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), and evidence suggests that he and others might have committed criminal acts in the process.

U.S. District Judge William M. Acker Jr., an 84-year-old Reagan appointee, granted summary judgment for the University of Alabama and various individual defendants--and he did it without giving either side an opportunity to conduct discovery. Procedural and case law make it clear that summary judgment cannot be considered, much less granted, when the parties have not been able to conduct discovery.

Acker ignored black-letter law and essentially allowed the UAB defendants to cheat me out of my job without having to provide any documents or answer any questions related to my termination. The case currently is on appeal before the U.S. Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta, and if the law still means anything in the Deep South, Acker's rulings will have to be overturned. But as we have seen in the Don Siegelman case, the Eleventh Circuit often is more interested in protecting trial-court judges than in making sure the law is upheld, so the outcome in my appeal hardly is a certainty.

This much, however, is certain: It's hard to imagine a more grotesque example of judicial incompetence or corruption. (Acker's old, but I see no signs that he's senile; that makes me think this is a case of corruption, not incompetence.) It becomes even more disgusting when you consider that a public, taxpayer-supported university--and several of its officials/managers--are trying to pervert the court system by knowingly taking advantage of tainted rulings.

Most disturbing, perhaps, is this: Acker made statements from the bench--and I have them in an official court transcript--indicating he had talked with one or more people connected to UAB about my case. If that indeed happened, and it influenced Acker's rulings, it would point to federal crimes, including obstruction of justice under 18 U.S. Code 1503.

I recently reported about corrupt rulings I had witnessed in federal court and pointed specifically to two judges from the Northern District of Alabama--Acker and Abdul Kallon. On the surface, the two judges could not be more different. Acker is old, white, and a Republican. Kallon is young, black, and supposedly a Democrat (an Obama appointee). But they have consistently shown a lack of respect for the law, the office they hold, and the parties who come before them. In my previous post, I wrote that I would be providing details about the corrupt actions of Acker and Kallon. This is the first in a series of followup posts that will unmask two rogues on the federal bench.

The law governing my UAB case could not be more simple. It's fairly common for defendants in a lawsuit to file a Rule (12)(b)(6) motion, also known as a "motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim." We discussed these motions in a previous post and noted that, even under recently heightened pleading standards, they should almost never be granted. In fact, when a defendant attaches "matters outside the pleadings" to a motion to dismiss and the court does not exclude them, the motion must be converted to a motion for summary judgment and handled according to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP). This process is outlined in Rule 12(d) FRCP.

The record shows that UAB entered matters outside the pleadings, in the form of affidavits, and the court did not exclude them. The record also shows that Judge Acker converted the motions to dismiss to a motions for summary judgment. (See document below.) So far, so good.

But Acker veered into a swamp of unlawful activity when he ruled on summary judgment without giving me (or the other side, for that matter) an opportunity to conduct discovery. This is like declaring the New York Yankees the winners over the Boston Red Sox, without giving the Red Sox a chance to bat. It simply cannot be done, either under Rule 56 or Eleventh Circuit precedent.

Acker did not order a discovery conference among the parties, as required by Rule 26(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), and he never set a scheduling order as required by Rule 16(b) FRCP.

That Acker pulled this stunt indicates he is a judicial rogue of the worst sort. That the UAB defendants are quietly trying to take advantage of such thuggery, when their in-house lawyers have to know it is unlawful, tells us all we need to known about the university's ethically challenged "leadership."

How simple is the law in question? Rule 56(d) FRCP allows a nonmoving party (me, in this instance) to show by affidavit that he has not been able to obtain information that is essential to opposing the motion for summary judgment. The Eleventh Circuit has streamlined this process by operating for almost 24 years under a ruling styled Snook v. Trust Company of Georgia, 859 F. 2d 865 (11th Cir., 1988).

In Snook, the Eleventh Circuit found that a party opposing summary judgment need not file an affidavit to invoke the protection of Rule 56(d). Instead, the nonmoving party simply must bring to the district court's attention that discovery is outstanding. Once that is done, consideration of summary judgment is premature. From Snook:

This court has often noted that summary judgment should not be granted until the party opposing the motion has had an adequate opportunity for discovery. . . . The party opposing a motion for summary judgment has a right to challenge the affidavits and other factual materials submitted in support of the motion by conducting sufficient discovery so as to enable him to determine whether he can furnish opposing affidavits. . . . Generally summary judgment is inappropriate when the party opposing the motion has been unable to obtain responses to his discovery requests.

I was not allowed to even make discovery requests, much less obtain responses--and I filed two motions alerting the court to this. (See one of those motions below.) But Acker ruled on summary judgment anyway.

This is dumbfoundingly unlawful, and it indicates that Acker thinks I am too stupid to realize what he did. It also hints that he thinks other parties who come before him are stupid--and, with a lifetime appointment, he really doesn't care that he has butchered the law.

Evidence suggests that Acker might be more than just a bad judge; he might be a crook. Consider a statement Acker made in a hearing on December 10, 2010, after I asked him how much time I had to file a response to a UAB motion:

I think I'm going to give you until after Christmas so I can wish you a happy Christmas by giving you the time for Christmas. I know that UAB and the people over there are very anxious about this, and I want to accommodate them, too, but I think I'm going to eliminate the anxiety for me between now and Christmas by giving him at least that much time.

How would Acker know that "UAB and the people over there" were "very anxious" about my case? I can think of only one answer--someone connected to UAB told him. At a bare minimum, this means Acker had improper ex parte communications about my case, violating judicial ethics and requiring his recusal. Given that Acker went on to unlawfully grant summary judgment without discovery, it more likely means that Acker and one or more persons acted criminally in my case.

Below is a memorandum opinion, and on page 2, Acker clearly states that he is converting defendants' motions to dismiss to motions for summary judgment and will treat them as such. After that, is a motion where I timely notify the court, as required by Snook, that discovery is outstanding. At this point, summary judgment could not lawfully be considered, much less granted. Acker granted it anyway.

Such blatant contempt for the law indicates that Acker does not try very hard to conceal the fact he is crooked. And from our reporting on the Don Siegelman and Paul Minor criminal cases, we know that Acker is not alone.

This is more evidence about the shameful state of our federal courts--and most Americans have no idea how their tax dollars are being abused by "rogues in robes."



(To be continued)


UAB-Acker MSJ Ruling


UAB--Shuler Motion for Discovery

22 comments:

James Greek said...

I know now thanks to this blog. I wish the constitution can be changed to limits where the judges won't abuse the law and they can be elected and they can be impeached from the bench and thrown in jail.

This makes me so mad that you were done wrong this way Rog. And I am sorry man.

legalschnauzer said...

Thanks, James. Two big problems with federal judges:

1. They have lifetime appointments;

2. They have judicial immunity and almost can never be sued, no matter how corruptly they behave, as long as they are in their "official capacity." (This applies to state judges, too.)

Americans really need to rethink these notions. They supposedly allow judges to rule "fearlessly," to make decisions that might be unpopular but are correct under the law. That, however, is not how it works. It allows them to be "fearlessly corrupt."

Federal judges can be criminally prosecuted, but it's a rarity. Acker doesn't know me, and I can think of no reason for him to cheat me. That's why I think he's doing it at someone's behest--and that points to obstruction of justice and other federal crimes.

Another note/joke: Under the Rules of Professional Conduct, the opposing lawyers from UAB, etc. have a duty to report Acker's misconduct to the proper tribunal. They sat right there and heard it. But they don't do a thing about it because it benefits them.

Andrew Kreig said...

Hang in there Roger. I have confidence that you've thought this all through.
Andrew

jeffrey spruill said...

Even Rehnquist had a little respect for precedent.


"Miranda has become embedded in routine police practice to the point where the warnings have become part of our national culture," wrote Rehnquist. ""Miranda announced a constitutional rule that Congress may not supersede legislatively. We decline to overrule Miranda ourselves," concluded the Chief Justice.

http://www.oyez.org/cases/1990-1999/1999/1999_99_5525

David said...

They have judicial immunity and almost can never be sued, no matter how corruptly they behave, as long as they are in their "official capacity." Does the mean that they can slap a secretary in their "official capacity" every time they make a typo in a written order or fail to bring the judge a cup of coffee on command?

legalschnauzer said...

David: It's interesting that you raise this issue because it's the classic example of when a judge CAN be sued--for something like sexual harassment, gender discrimination etc. Under the law, I believe a judge has immunity as long as he's acting in his "judicial capacity," which generally means making a ruling from the bench. My understanding is that quite a few judges have been sued for workplace misbehavior because in that role they are a boss/employer, not a judge.

Anonymous said...

james you must be a fool.Roger got what he deserved

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 8:07:

Is that you, AEJ?

James Greek said...

Roger,

What does AEJ stand for? and For your information I am not a fool! Ha! I am not talking to you I am talking to Anon. Because of the lifetime appointments and the judicial immunity. Federal and state judges are free to run roughshod over the law.

legalschnauzer said...

James:

AEJ is the initials of the person I think called you a fool. He's the same person who has sent me numerous anonymous threats over the years. He knows who he is, but he's always too big a coward to go by his real name. He's going to wish someday that he hadn't screwed with me--or with you.

Redeye said...

It's the courts stupid! That's what everyone needs to remember when they vote for President of the United States of America.

Anonymous said...

Roger, can you upload the motions for dismissal/summary judgment made by UAB?

legalschnauzer said...

I can, but they will have to be scanned. I don't have them in an electronic format.

David said...

If a judge like Mark Fuller and a USA like Leura Canary and her assistants conspire with people outside the court system like Karl Rove, Bill Canary, Bob Riley and Rob Riley to use the court to politically undermine Don Siegelman, can they be prosecuted?

Or the same for a Circuit Judge and his golfing partner and poor excuse for lawyer who tried to take Roger's house?

legalschnauzer said...

David:

I'm not a lawyer, but you raise a profound question, and here is my understanding of the law: I suspect that Fuller, Canary, and her assistants (and perhaps Bob Riley) might be protected by various forms of immunity. I don't think immunity would protect folks like Rove, Canary, Rob Riley, and others who might have been involved in the Siegelman prosecution. Any number of federal statutes probably were violated, including obstruction of justice. Not sure that federal obstruction would apply in my state case, but I'm pretty sure Alabama has similar statutes. The old federal honest-services fraud statute definitely would have been in play for my case, but not sure now in wake of SCOTUS ruling in Skilling case. Would welcome insight from others on this.

choggs said...

The eleventh circuit could reasign you a knew judge and have it put in front of a jury.

jeffrey spruill said...

Mr. Schnauzer:

For the life of me---I don't see how judicial immunity would be applicable to a blatant criminal act.(conspiracy)

Some folks would REALLY be living charmed lives & looking for their next target.(I believe I just answered this conundrum.)

legalschnauzer said...

Jeff:

You are a person with a conscience, and judicial immunity offends such people. It's a license to cheat, without facing repercussions.

I'm not an expert, but here is my understanding of the law as it applies to my situation: If Acker's role in the conspiracy is issuing bogus court rulings, he would be immune. The others involved in the conspiracy, say lawyers or powerful types connected to UAB, could be prosecuted. Could Acker be prosecuted if he helped plan the conspiracy, outside his role as a judge? That seems to be an open question; not sure about that. The challenge, of course, would be getting any U.S. attorney to take such a case seriously. They are part of the "justice system" and are deeply invested in protecting judges, even bad ones like Acker.

Anonymous said...

It is not improper for a judge to enter summary judgment prior to discovery taking place. That is a blatent mischaracterization of the law. Quit whining and acusing people of misconduct. The fact is, an employer can terminate an employee for just about anything, and your complaint could be tossed for your failure to state a claim

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 1:06 p.m.--You don't have a clue what you are talking about. No wonder you didn't sign your name. Unlike you, I cite the actual 11th Circuit law, and it's abundantly clear--you cannot even consider summary judgment when discovery is outstanding, or has not been conducted at all. If you would bother actually reading the post, it says that Acker converted motions to dismiss to motions for summary judgment, so it was not decided on a failure to state a claim. You sound like the classic lawyer who wants to protect your own corrupt nest, at the expense of the public. You also don't know employment law; an employer cannot terminate someone for discriminatory reasons or for reasons that violate constitutional rights, such as the First Amendment right to free speech. If you are, in fact, a lawyer, I feel sorry for your clients.

jeffrey spruill said...

These lawyers just love dumping on you.

blatent mischaracterization of the law.

Don't you feel sorry for the guy this ogre is defending?

Anonymous said...

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