Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Jessica Medeiros Garrison's Connections To Bill Pryor Shine Spotlight On Her Hypocrisy About Tobacco



When someone says "Republican," what is the first word that pops in your mind. For me, it's "hypocrite," and I suspect that comes high on your list of words to associate with the GOP.

This comes to mind after recently reviewing a document in a divorce/custody case involving Republican operative Jessica Medeiros Garrison and Tuscaloosa school board president Lee Garrison.

Jessica Garrison complains in the document that her ex husband and his current wife are cigarette smokers, causing allergy problems during visitations for the son she has via Lee Garrison. This might be a legitimate concern in a custody case, and as a non-smoker myself, I'm not a big fan of any human (child or otherwise) being forced to inhale second-hand smoke. But coming from Jessica Garrison, it induces guffaws.

That's because it's well documented that Ms. Garrison is philosophical "best buds" with current U.S. Circuit Judge and former Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor. In fact, she stated in an interview earlier this year that Pryor is her professional mentor--even though he might accurately be described as one of the most notorious tobacco-industry whores in American history.

(We probably can safely assume that Jessica Garrison also has adopted her mentor's strident anti-gay stance. Given what we've learned in recent weeks about Bill Pryor's ties to 1990s gay porn . . . well, that makes mentor and mentee hypocrites of Bunyanesque proportions.)

Is Jessica Garrison even aware how absurd it is for her to claim Bill Pryor as a mentor while decrying the effects of cigarette smoke? I doubt it, so we will spell it out.

First, let's consider that statement from the divorce/custody document. (See full document at the end of this post.) It was part of a general attack on her ex husband that Jessica Garrison used in effort to maintain primary custody of their son. Here is the key part:


The father has repeatedly exhibited a willingness to forfeit time with his son to pursue recreational and social activities that often involve excessive drinking and late nights. He also admittedly has had a gambling problem and takes controlled medications for which he has no prescription or medical need. The father also has a bad temper and a consistent tendency to rage, often in the presence of the child. Moreover, the father and his wife are cigarette smokers and have pets, both of which contribute to the child's ongoing allergies.

Who can Jessica Garrison thank for smoking's pervasive presence in American culture, especially in Alabama? Well, in part, the thanks should go to her mentor, Bill Pryor.

First, we must apologize to whores everywhere for comparing them to Bill Pryor and tobacco. That's a true insult to all self-respecting prostitutes, who actually fill a need in society--unlike Bill Pryor and the cigarette industry.

This all dates to 1997, when Mike Moore, a progressive attorney general in Mississippi, launched litigation to force the tobacco industry to help pay for health-care costs associated with smoking. Billions of dollars were at stake, and the lawsuits would have major implications for the political prosecutions of Don Siegelman in Alabama and Paul Minor in Mississippi. We covered that in an October 2007 post titled "Siegelman, Minor, and Tobacco."


Bill Pryor, Jessica Garrison
and U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions
To most rational human beings, the litigation probably sounded imminently reasonable--the tobacco industry largely caused the problem, so it should help pay for it. But Bill Pryor would have none of it. As Alabama's attorney general, he opposed the state's participation in the lawsuits. Here is how an article in the Mobile Press-Register put it:


In 1997, after Mississippi and other states led the legal charge against the tobacco companies by filing lawsuits seeking compensation for treating tobacco-related illnesses, Alabama's refusal to join its neighbor to the west ignited a political firestorm.
Then-governor Fob James sided with Attorney General Bill Pryor, who adamantly opposed suing the industry, calling it bad law motivated by greedy trial lawyers. Siegelman did battle with James and Pryor in the media, condemning them for not joining the growing number of states suing the industry and accusing Pryor of being too close to the tobacco industry.
When it became clear that Alabama would not hop on board, Siegelman, though acting in his capacity as a private attorney, met with leaders at USA and the University of Alabama-Birmingham to urge them to sue cigarette makers. The argument was that the hospitals operated by both universities spent millions of dollars treating tobacco-related illnesses.
USA hopped aboard. UAB did too, before bowing out at Pryor's urging.

The Mobile paper did not get that last part quite right. Administrators on the UAB campus in Birmingham wanted to join the lawsuit. But Pryor persuaded members of the University of Alabama Board of Trustees, based in Tuscaloosa, to vote against it. On a 10-2 vote, the UA Trustees stayed out of the lawsuit. That meant the University of South Alabama received about $20 million over 10 years, while UAB got nothing.

An Associated Press article from the time provides insight on some of the "reasoning" behind UA's no vote.

The bottom line? Bill Pryor went to extraordinary lengths to ensure that Birmingham's largest health-care provider missed out on roughly $20 million to which it was lawfully entitled. And it was all so Pryor could protect his benefactors in the tobacco industry.

Jessica Garrison clearly enjoys reaping the benefits of her association with Bill Pryor. She now works for the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), which Pryor started.

So here is some Legal Schnauzer advice for you, Jessica: If you want to continue riding the Pryor gravy train, please keep your trap shut about the dangers of smoking. It makes you look like an outsized hypocrite, even among Republicans.





21 comments:

ttowntruthseeker said...

Where there's smoke there's fire...

Anonymous said...

Other state's attorney generals said that ALABAMA'S ATTORNEY GENERAL BIIL PRYOR did a better job representing the tobacco companies before the court than the tobacco companies own attorneys did.......

Well, obviously; because he surely wasn't interested in pursing the investigating of two senior high school teenage girls being murdered, execution style, found in trunk of a car; now was he?

Nor a forged fatality report, did he?

Nor the blackmail so concerned for, neither did he?

Lied to Senate Judiciary Committee, yes, he did!

Not worthy of this life time appointment, Alabamians if not already should feel embarrassed by him on the bench.

Anonymous said...

Food For Thought: Maybe Jessica's son is really Luther's son too so instead of admitting it she just thinks up ways to try and win full custody through the legal system. No accusations here just somthing to ponder.

Anonymous said...

I remember well the controversy over that tobacco settlement, and Pryor's role in making sure Birmingham and UAB got screwed. A sad episode in our state's history.

Anonymous said...

I am public relations director for the National Association of Whores, Prostitutes and Streetwalkers (NAWPS). I must ask that you refrain in the future from comparing us to Bill Pryor and the tobacco industry. We have our reputations to uphold, and we ask that you respect that.

Holly "You Wanna" Pardee

Anonymous said...

If I'm Lee Garrison, I'm taking off the gloves and telling everything I know about the Luther/Jessica affair.

Of course, if I've been well compensated for my silence . . . maybe I'm not.

Anonymous said...

Despite Jessica's protestations, she and Pryor clearly support smoking and gay porn. How much more "pro life" and "traditional values" can you be?

Anonymous said...

I share Jessica Garrison's concern about the effects of secondhand smoke on kids, but I wonder if she has considered the negative effects that extramarital affairs have on kids.

Anonymous said...

You made me LOL, @10:54. One of the great comments ever, here or anywhere else.

Anonymous said...

I remember the tobacco brouhaha back in '97, but I didn't know that the UAB campus wanted to join the litigation, and the UA Trustees voted it down, under pressure from Pryor.

That's sickening, disgusting, enraging . . . and a whole bunch of other words I can't think of at the moment.

Anonymous said...

These are the same enlightened trustees who have tried to ruin UAB's football program by forcing the school to hire a UA alum as head coach. These are the same trustees who still want UAB to be an extension center with a medical complex.

Free UAB! Give us our own board!

Anonymous said...

Since when is it the attorney general's business to interfere with the operations of any university in the state?

If we had a real ethics commission in Alabama, this should have been investigated big time.

Anonymous said...

When UAB didn't get that $20 million--and I'm surprised the award for U of South Alabama wasn't more than that--you can bet the university turned around and charged that amount to state and federal taxpayers. It got paid for one way or another--and we got stuck with the bill because Bill Pryor didn't want Big Tobacco to kick in.

Anonymous said...

If USA got $20 million, I'm betting UAB would have gotten even more than that.

UAB is a substantially bigger medical center, with a national and international profile. The dollars for Birmingham would have been bigger than what went to Mobile.

Anonymous said...

How does one become both "pro life" and "pro tobacco"?

Never figured that out.

Anonymous said...

That is one scary photo of the "Three Amigos" you posted there, Schnauzer.

Don't forget Jeff Sessions' role in all of this. He's probably an even bigger tobacco whore than Pryor.

David in S. Alabama said...

When
Don Siegelman, acting as a private attorney, filed a suit for the USA Medical School's hospitals, Bill Pryor screamed "No, you can't! I'm the Attorney General and I represent USA. Alabama Tate Univ. has hired a private attorney in LA to filed a suit against Forensic Financial Services of Birmingham in the California courts claiming standing to sue in CA because they have an office in CA. We have heard anyone in the AG's office that they, not a private attorney, represent ASU. Luther has recused because he worked fir ASU the year before he was elected.

legalschnauzer said...

Good points, David. You also wonder how Bill Pryor came to take over ballots from the 2002 election when that would seem to be the Secretary of State's job.

Anonymous said...

PRYOR BEING ENCOURAGED, ALLOWED, THEN CONDONED IN HAVING THE 2002 ELECTION BOXES SEALS WAS IN DIRECT VIOLATION OF HIS OFFICES' DUTIES, OBLIGATIONS, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND ACCOUNTABILITIES to the tax paying voting citizens of Alabama.

And this is true because of both the Secretary of State's and Attorney General's defined primary job duties.

The Secretary of State is charge with total responsibility of voting processes, but with one exception.........

and that one exception is WHEN A CRIME HAS BEEN FOUND OUT TO HAVE BEEN COMMITTED, THEN, AND ONLY THEN; DOES THE VOTING PROCESSES BECOME THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.

But, there was never any crime reported to have been committed by that time of the night when boxes seized. THERE HAS NEVER BEEN ANY ANNOUNCEMENT OF AN ONGOING INVESTIGATION INTO THE CRIMINAL ACTITIES REQUIRING BOXES SEIZURES; NO MENTIOING OF SUSPECTS, OFFICIALS SUSPICIONS ON WHY HAPPENING ONLY IN BALDWIN COUNTY?

Is it so simple, as we can't see the forest for the trees; that Mobile areas are from both, by then, Senator Sessions, and Pryor were from? Too, Sessions used the Mobile's FBI agents to WORK FOR HIM spying around in Montgomery on former Governor Jim Folsom, so obviously Sessions no strange there either; after they left FBI its reported SESSIONS hired both of them while he was still Attorney General before going to Washington after very very quietly backing off closing case on Folsom; Although Pryor with Sessions investigating Folsom would never respond about case suspicious closure, Pryor advised that he had had no knowledge of a investigation into Folsom.

When appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing; is it not true that all persons coming before the committee has to be sworn in, under official oath?

Here are more lies; These are what Alabamians have sent to represent our state. Sessions stood before that Committee white-washing Pryor's background; one is left to wonder did all those having sent in their individual supporting letters know of these things, and kept quiet too, ALL THOSE IN LAW ENFORCEMENT HAVING SENT LETTERS OF SUPPORT VIA SESSIONS TO/OR COMMITTEE IF BALLOT BOXES IN THEIR HOMETOWNS WERE SUBJECTED TO AS MUCH.....WOULD THEY NOT CONSIDER THIS TAMPERING WITH THEIR ELECTION BY SOMEBODY WANTING TO CHANGE THE OUTCOME LONG AFTER MIDNIGHT, AND IMMEDIATELY INITATITE AN INVESTIGATION AND ARREST.

Yet Pryor never did anything except continue to conform to corruption[s].

It must have been discussed between Pryor, Sessions, Rove, Canary, subornates that people in Alabama are just "LITTLE PEOPLE" THEY WON'T NEVER REALLY PUSH IT; IN OTHER WORDS ALABAMIANS ARE LOOKED DOWN UPON AS BEING SO COMMON A WORKING MAN AND WOMAN THAT THEY WOULD NEVER REALLY CARE, AND IF DID, WOULDN'T DO ANYTHING TO CHALLENGE THE MACHINE; AFTER ALL......HOW DARE THEY!!!!!!!

David in S. Alabama said...

Here is what Pryor did to help seal the deal when Riley stole the election in 2002. Pryor's campaign managers were Karl Rove and Bill Canary. Rove was the one who provided Bob Riley assistant Dan Gans with the know how and technology to alter the vote totals in the computer in the Baldwin Co. Courthouse. The next day the Democrats started screaming for a recount. Rove got some one to get the Sec. of State Jim Bennett write a letter to Pryor requesting an Attorney General's Opinion on recounting the vote. Pryor produced an opinion that falsely asserted it was illegal to remove the votes from the voting machines, which in Baldwin Co. were all electronic tabulating machines. The law he cited applied to the old mechanical voting machines, therefore totally irrelevant to the question at hand. He went on to state that anyone trying to remove the ballots from the tabulating machine and manually count the votes should be arrested. He ignores all the other statutes proving for an orderly and official recount.

You can read the opinion online at the AGs website. LS should write about this under the category of legal fiction.

Anonymous said...

There was a lawsuit of a Baldwin County police officer suing the department and rumors that he was trying to clean up the corruption. They fired him and all the information he gathered was ignored. They had begun the investigation and then Jeff Sessions as US Attorney was said to have quashed it. Can't find the officer's name now but the case was on the net at one time.