Doing the Huntsville Shuffle

A few weeks back we posted about a strange column, titled "Siegelman's Guilty, Relatively Speaking," by Huntsville Times editorial-page editor David Prather.

The column was absurd, even by Alabama standards. But the strangest part came when Prather stated that some unnamed individual (Jill Simpson?) had made charges about a local official, which didn't check out upon investigation by a Times reporter.

In an effort to be helpful, I let Mr. Prather know via e-mail that I had some charges regarding state judges that most certainly would check out. I invited him to contact me so that I could outline the wrongdoing form him, or a reporter. I felt sure that Mr. Prather would be deeply interested in a dead-solid cinch story about Republican wrongdoing in our state.

Below is a copy of the e-mail I sent to Mr. Prather. You probably will not be surprised to hear that I've received no response. I wonder why.

Mr. Prather:

I read with great interest your recent editorial "Siegelman's Guilty, Relatively Speaking."
I disagree with your conclusions, but that' s not why I'm writing. In the body of the column, you mention a source who had alleged unlawful or improper conduct on the part of a public official. You noted that when a reporter checked out the tip, no evidence was found to support it.

I can provide lots of evidence that will check out regarding wrongdoing in Alabama's state courts--and our justice system in general. I've been the victim of judicial corruption, starting in trial courts in Shelby County and going up to the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals and the Alabama Supreme Court. This is pretty much the same Supreme Court that recently threw out $3.5 billion in punitive damages in a case involving ExxonMobil. That's a big story in our state right now, and I can show you that our appellate courts have a history of not correctly applying the law.

When I say judicial corruption, I'm talking about judges who repeatedly make rulings that are contrary to clear, settled law. And at the appellate level, it involves justices improperly using Alabama's "no opinion affirmance" rule to uphold incorrect trial--court rulings--essentially "sweeping them under the rug." And in my case, I can show this activity has benefited a party who has close ties to very well known figures at the top of Alabama government.

I have started a blog about my experiences--and other justice-related issues. The blog, Legal Schnauzer, recently was cited in documents filed as part of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee hearing on selective prosecution.

Interestingly, I have clear evidence of selective prosecution on the part of Alice Martin, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama (which includes Huntsville). The state judges in my case have committed federal crimes, specifically honest-services mail fraud (18 U.S. Code 1346). Ms. Martin has taken affirmative steps to ensure the case doesn't see the light of day.

I would welcome an inquiry from you or one of your reporters.

Best regards,

Roger Shuler