Corrupt Judges and Lawyers Make Big Bucks Off The Misery of Broken Families In Divorce Cases

Have you ever wondered if lawyers (some of them, anyway) are the lowest form of scum on earth? Well, here is a story that should remove any doubt.

I've been married more or less happily for 23 years, so I don't personally know the horrors of domestic-relations court. But based on communications with Legal Schnauzer readers who have been there--and I've heard from a lot of them--it must be the worst experience on earth, short of torture.

Here's the recipe: You take men, women, and children in families that are breaking apart, when all parties are at their most vulnerable and emotions are on a razor's edge. And what happens, at least if you live in certain Alabama jurisdictions?

According to two federal lawsuits involving Joseph W. Blackburn, a professor of taxation at Samford University's Cumberland School of Law, you are likely to encounter a "tribunal" that is corrupt from top to bottom--like something the Gambino family might have arranged.

How bad is it? To borrow a phrase from my Arkansas-raised mother, they are "crooked as a dog's hind leg."

How does it work? According to Blackburn, certain judges and lawyers belong to the same hunting club in Lowndes County, Alabama, and the activities there are not limited to shooting wild animals for "sport." No, the honorable "officers of the court" use their little club to fix divorce cases.

What's the result? Lawyers make grossly inflated fees, judges make extra cash on the side, and at least one party in each case gets the royal shaft. In many cases, it's a mother with children. Hey, who cares if single women trying to raise kids get screwed?

Federal judges dismissed both the lawsuits involving Blackburn, blatantly violating simple court procedure in the process. They made sure that the Blackburn cases were kicked out without any opportunity for discovery.

Why would federal judges do that? I can think of only one reason: Joe Blackburn is onto sickening corruption, and members of the legal tribe are determined to keep it hidden from the public.

Are Alabamians going to tolerate the enrichment of elitist lawyers at the expense of vulnerable mothers, fathers, and children? That is one of several questions we address in the following video: