Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Luther Strange's Statements On Voting Rights Act Offer A Glimpse Into His "Sordid" Lack Of Values


Luther Strange
Of all the public statements about the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act (VRA), perhaps the most ironic belongs to Alabama Attorney General  Luther Strange.

That's because Strange praised the high court's decision to gut VRA at the same time he was being sued under VRA.


It's hard to imagine a more flagrant display of hypocrisy from a public official. But given what we are learning about Strange's personal life, perhaps we should not be surprised at anything he might say or do.


This is the same Luther Strange who argued back in January that the VictoryLand casino should not be granted a liquor license because the facility and its owner, Milton McGregor, have "a sordid past." 

Based on our roughly three-month investigation of Strange's personal affairs, we can safely say that Strange knows a thing or two about sordid activities. We will be providing details in a multi-part series of posts that begins tomorrow.


The public already has plenty of evidence about Strange's tendency to make deceptive public statements that are hypocritical and, at times, downright dishonest. Consider his words on the Supreme Court's ruling on the VRA in Shelby County v. Holder. This is from an NPR report titled "In Alabama, Voting Decision Seen As A Sign of Progress, Setback":



The 5-4 decision declared unconstitutional a section of the law that established a formula to identify state and local governments that were required to get approval from the federal government before they made changes to their voting laws. The Supreme Court said Congress can change that part of the law — Section 4 — to reflect "current conditions" if it wants to continue to enforce it.
Luther Strange, Alabama's Republican attorney general, calls the ruling historic.
"What I'm most pleased about [is] it's a recognition of the tremendous amount of progress that we've made in Alabama over the last 50 years," he says.

Strange did not stop there. From NPR:


Strange says there's no doubt that federal oversight was needed in the 1960s. But times have changed.
"To treat Alabama the way all the other states are treated is a huge victory — symbolically, I think, and practically," he says.

"Big Luther" apparently neglected to mention one tiny detail: At the time he spoke those words, he was the defendant in a federal lawsuit under the Voting Rights Act.


In a case styled Johnny Ford, et al v. Luther Strange, et al, the mayor of Tuskegee and other residents of Macon County allege that Strange and Governor Robert Bentley violated the Voting Rights Act by usurping the authority of the county sheriff when Strange's office raided and closed the VictoryLand casino in February. 


Plaintiffs' lawyer Donald LaRoche, of Brockton, Massachusetts, alleges that racism and thuggish Republican Party politics drove the VictoryLand raid, which heaped "economic devastation" upon residents of majority-black Macon County. From the complaint:



Beginning in 2003, white political leaders of the Alabama and National Republican Party . . . , including but not limited to Governor Bob Riley, initiated plans to elect white Republicans to the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government in the State of Alabama, allegedly referred to as "Operation 2010."
In order to raise funds to accomplish their goal, Alabama Republican leaders and elected officials entered into a scheme with the Mississippi Choctaw Indians Casino Operators . . . and later the Alabama Poarch Band of Creek Indian Casino Operators. . . .
This scheme included eliminating competition to Indian Gaming from non-Indian Gaming, including "VictoryLand" located in Macon County, Alabama. Eliminating VictoryLand served the dual goals of both by providing Indian Gaming a monopoly in Alabama and shutting off potential non-Indian Gaming . . . contributions that Republican political leaders feared could be used to thwart their political plans.

Strange, of course, is a card-carrying member of the Bob Riley machine, via mutual ties to the Birmingham law firm Bradley Arant. Machine members consistently have claimed they oppose gambling, in all forms, on a moral basis. We already have shown that one machine member, the former governor's son Rob Riley, has feet of clay when it comes to issues of private morals.

We are about to show the same thing regarding Luther Strange.


(To be continued)

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

The system, that Don Siegelman believes in - and you Legal Schnauzer journalistic reporting and at the top level of investigative in the law of all disciplines, it's broke and broken.

The people that run the broke system are broken and the collapse isn't easy nor are the criminals going to say they've been wrong about going after the wrong idea about 'life', in America and earth.

http://youtu.be/TTwZ-kIi8LI

http://rense.com/general88/vanu.htm

Global ownership system isn't the least bit afraid of USA. The south is a well planted root of corruption to remain as long as the Rileys can do the job GG (Global Governance) hires them to do, contaminate life.

Down we should be, on bended knees and praying the strangers and other vermin roaches don't get to be where the people who were and are and have been -sane- where do we get to go when the morons blow us all up. They are definitely capable of horror.

Anonymous said...

Another sad commentary on today's mainstream media. The reporter who wrote the article at NPR could have done a simple Google search and found that Luther Strange is being sued under the Voting Rights Act. Probably didn't bother to check.

Anonymous said...

Methinks Luther and his GF are about to be outed.

Anonymous said...

The amount of progress Alabama has made in 50 years is greatly exagerrated. It only looks good in comparison to our wretched past. But real progress won't come as long as we elect the likes of Luther Strange.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't have a problem with Alabama being treated like all other states if citizens of Alabama could be ensured that their constitutional rights were protected and respected. Luther seems to ignore that part of the equation.

Anonymous said...

What does the Supreme Court ruling do to the suit since the Voting Rights Act is no longer law?

legalschnauzer said...

Good question, @8:57. My understanding is that SCOTUS only overturned Sec. 4 of Voting Rights Act, and the rest remains, although Sec. 4 and Sec. 5 are closely aligned. I further understand that the Macon County plaintiffs feel they still have a case under Sec. 2, plus their lawsuit includes claims under two other provisions of law. The plaintiffs' job is harder now, but their lawsuit still has legs.

Anonymous said...

Any idea of when the court case will begin?
D.M.

legalschnauzer said...

D.M.--

The court case, in a broad sense, already has begun, with a complaint filed, plus a number of early motions. Not sure if a trial date has been set, and I would say it's unlikely ever to go to trial. Strange and Bentley are trying to avoid discovery by filing motions to dismiss. Those are pending. Here is URL to a post that pretty well sums up where the case stands now:


http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2013/06/residents-of-majority-black-macon.html

Anonymous said...

Can't wait until the post tomorrow. I'm guessing it involves Jessica Medeiros Garrison and her, ahem, ties to Big Luther.

Anonymous said...

Macon County has a legal constitutional amendment allowing electronic bingo. The people of that county VOTED for this amendment with 76% in favor. Electronic bingo passed the house and senate without one dissenting VOTE. There is a court case in 2007 where the Alabama Supreme Court VOTED in favor of Johnny Ford and electronic bingo in Macon County (plaintiffs filed that they were against ebingo and were not going to personally profit from the process). In 2007 Riley was friendly with McGregor. Fast forward...Riley wants to ruin McGregor and ironically (ha ha) the Supreme Court has changed their position to stay in line with the organized crime boss Riley. Macon County's VOTERS have been thrown down the river and Loser Strange has stomped and spit on a legal constitutional amendment. He is marching to Riley's orders.

Unknown said...

I wonder what Lambert Garrison, former husband of Jessica Medeiros Garrison, has to say about his ex's relationship with Strange. The Garrison's parted ways in 2009.

legalschnauzer said...

John:

I've spoken with Mr. Garrison, and we will be taking a close look at that divorce case in the coming days. The first post is out tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

Here's an interesting factoid for you: the mailing address for Friends of Lee Garrison (Jessica's ex-husband) is the exact same PO Box as the Red Elephant Club. It is also the exact same PO Box of all of Robert Bentley's preferred PACS.

You can look it up.

legalschnauzer said...

That's interesting. The Red Elephant Club is a big-time Paul Bryant Jr. organization, isn't it?

Anonymous said...

Yes it is LS - the Red Elephant Club is regarded as an illuminati-type organization pushing for UA football supremacy, allegedly headed by Paul Bryant Jr.

legalschnauzer said...

Looks like they are doing a pretty good job of achieving football supremacy. I wonder how much of the proceeds from PBJ's insurance fraud wound up going to Red Elephant Club.

Anonymous said...

By the way, although Luther's Alabama political career may be toast, he is planning a BIG comeback on the national scene in 2016 by running for PRESIDENT on a "Players Party" ticket with the discraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner. The STRANGE WEINER ticket is sure to draw attention nationally.

Anonymous said...

Any word on rumors that Luther Strange is actually the father of Paris Jackson and Prince Michael Jackson too?

I hear Luther is over in London right now with a camcorder trying to get into Kate Middleton's birthing suite . . .seems like Big Luther "got back in the game" in Europe too.

Anonymous said...

Somebody REALLY REALLY oughta call Maury Povich and have him show up unannounced at the State Capitol with a video camera and a blood test . . .

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 11:13--

Thanks for giving me a much-needed belly laugh. Can't you just see the yard signs and bumper stickers now?

"Strange Weiner 2016!"

Anonymous said...

Proposed titles for Luther's tell-all book: "Blue Pills in a Red State" . . . "Big Luther/Big Daddy" . . ."Lutherotica"

legalschnauzer said...

Somebody is on a serious roll . . . and I'm loving it. Funny, funny stuff.

David in S. Alabama said...

Earl Stanley Garner was a lawyer turn mystery writer with his Perry Mason novels. Maybe Jessica Medeiros Garrison could do so too. Her first effort should be titled "The Strange Case of Coitus Interuptus

Anonymous said...

Big Lothario

Anonymous said...

Any truth to the rumor that Luther has a "love shack" located in T-Town?

e.a.f. said...

O.K. there is eough in these blogs to write a weekly sitcom or drama, either way, it'll make money!