Obama nominates Merrick Garland to replace Scalia, but president has history of backing a judge in the South who helped trample the rights of blacks, women

Abdul Kallon
(From al.com)

President Barack Obama this morning nominated Merrick Garland, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit, to replace the late Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court.

We strongly support Obama's right to make the nomination, and the Republican notion that the next president should replace Scalia is not supported by law, history, or common sense. We also believe Garland is a reasonable choice--although probably not as liberal as we would prefer--and he should receive a full and fair hearing in the Senate. He also should receive a full vote, and if he is as solid and moderate as news reports suggest, he should be approved and seated on the SCOTUS bench sometime this summer.

Having said that, we are deeply concerned about some of Obama's judicial nominees in, or near, our home base of Alabama. Most troubling is his announcement on February 11 that he was nominating Birmingham-based U.S. District Judge Abdul Kallon to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

We made our feelings about that nomination clear in a post titled "Obama nominates Alabama federal judge Abdul Kallon to open seat on U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, proving incompetence still has its rewards."

Since the nomination Obama and U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) have misused high-minded rhetoric in an effort to convince the public that nominating Kallon is a wise decision. The public should not fall for it.

Obama said "Judge Kallon has a long and impressive record of service and a history of handing down fair and judicious decisions.” With all due respect to the president, for whom I have voted twice, that is bulls--t.

Rep. Sewell could hardly contain her glee and reacted with this: "What an awesome nomination! So excited [that] President Obama nominated Judge Kallon for the US Court Of Appeals. Judge Kallon has the integrity, keen legal acumen, and judicial temperament to make him a highly qualified appellate jurist!” That just shows that Sewell is a political hack who knows nothing about Kallon's actions as a judge or a lawyer.

Sewell also said, "This historic nomination could appoint the first African American from Alabama to this appellate bench." That suggests this is all about the color of Kallon's skin and not his abilities as a judge. And that's because his abilities as a judge are slim, at best. Even worse, Kallon has a demonstrated record of working against minorities--especially people of color and women. But Terri Sewll thinks he's an "awesome nomination." Is this woman drunk or clueless--or both?

We've shown that Kallon butchered two cases where my wife, Carol, and I were parties. And by "butchered," I mean he repeatedly failed to follow black-letter law. On at least one issue, his ruling was so off-the-charts wrong that it suggests he not only is incompetent, he's also corrupt. (More on that issue in an upcoming post.) In both cases, Kallon made sure to protect corporate or institutional interests over those of regular folks who had been wronged.

Specifically, Kallon protected the Ingram and Associates debt-collection law firm of Birmingham and corporate interests for which it works--including American Express and NCO, which is widely known as one of the most corrupt debt-collection outfits in the country. (See "The Debt Collector's Creed: Lie early and lie often.")

Merrick Garland
(From nytimes.com)

Kallon also protected the Shelby County Sheriff's Department and sleazy right-wing lawyer William E. Swatek. Keep in mind that Shelby County, Alabama, was the entity behind a lawsuit that wound up more or less gutting key provisions of the Voting Rights Act.

But Kallon's dubious actions go way beyond any rulings related to Carol and me. As a lawyer at the Birmingham firm Bradley Arant Boult Cummings (BABC), Kallon's main duty was to defend employers who faced allegations of discrimination. That's right . . . if you were a woman, a homosexual, a person of color, a person with a disability, or a person over the age of 40, and you faced discrimination in the workplace, Abdul Kallon was going to do his best to make sure you got shut out in federal court. To Kallon, civil rights are something to be trampled, not to be championed.

How do we know? Consider a case styled McCormack, et al v. Campus Crest Group, et al. (WD of NC, 2011). The case involved allegations that Charlotte-based Campus Crest Communities, headed then by CEO Ted Rollins, engaged in grotesque discrimination and harassment against female and black employees. Rollins, of course, has appeared regularly here at Legal Schnauzer because of his central role in a divorce case that caused his ex wife, Sherry Carroll Rollins, and two children to wind up on food stamps in Birmingham.

The McCormack lawsuit suggests Ted Rollins is no better as a manager than he is as a husband or father.

How bad was the racial environment at Campus Crest? This is from an earlier post, titled "How far will one company go to avoid hiring blacks":

Charlotte-based Campus Crest Communities, which develops student housing near college campuses, recently issued a $380-million IPO. But according to the lawsuit, the company takes specific steps to avoid hiring blacks for certain positions and fosters a racially hostile environment for the blacks who do work there.

Plaintiff Nicole McAuliffe says in the complaint that Campus Crest McAuliffe practiced blatant discrimination against people of color. She and other staff members were directed to hire predominantly young, white women to available positions at the company's various residential rental properties. She was directed to provide her superiors with photographs taken from the FaceBook or MySpace pages of all applicants she recommended to ensure they were not African American.

One supervisor told McAuliffe, “We have Southern investors; they do not like for us to hire blacks.” Another supervisor stated, "Once you hire an African American, you never can get rid of them because they think they are so entitled.” Several black administrative staff worked in a certain section of the corporate office, and that became known among higher-ups as the "hood."

So the area where blacks worked at Campus Crest was known as "the hood." But that is the least of the indignities black employees were made to suffer:

Qualified blacks--as well as qualified applicants over the age of 40--routinely were excluded from employment opportunities at Campus Crest's residential properties around the country, McAuliffe says.

Plaintiff Heather McCormack states in the complaint that one investor referred to blacks as "Indians." This investor said in a board of directors' meeting that occupancy levels had been reduced because too many "Indians" had been hired.

CEO Ted Rollins joined in the fun at Campus Crest, according to the McCormack/McAuliffe complaint:

Ted Rollins, CEO of Campus Crest, helped create the racially hostile environment, McCormack says. Rollins said one black property manager had caused a section of his apartment complex to fall into disrepair because he had been "throwing out his chicken grease at night."

McCormack faced questions when she hired a black female as one of her direct reports at the Charlotte office. "Who hired the black girl with the red hair?" said one of McCormack's superiors. McCormack says she was under constant pressure to terminate the new employee for false reasons.

Plaintiff Tammy Hughes-Brown says in the complaint that Rollins made it a practice to mimic the voice of a black male in her presence, insisting that he sounded just like Bernie Mac, the late African-American comedian.

For the company's 2009 annual meeting, Rollins and Chief Investment Officer Mike Hartnett presented a DVD that featured the two of them wearing large, 1960s-style "Afros." During a portion of the DVD, Hartnett mimics the voice of a black male, and both executives engage in sexually and racially charged remarks.

We've shown that Bradley Arant was the chief corporate law firm for Ted Rollins and Campus Crest Communities. Who helped defend the company against charges that it practiced nauseating racism against black employees? That was none other than Abdul Kallon. In fact, he only left the case when President Obama nominated him to a judgeship in the Northern District of Alabama. Records show that several lawyers from Charlotte helped represent defendants later, but Bradley Arant was front and center at the start.

Ted Rollins

That's the real Abdul Kallon, the guy who tries to make sure people with dark skin will not receive justice for being treated like dirt in America's corporate environment. That's the Abdul Kallon that Barack Obama and Terri Sewell don't want you to see, because it conflicts with their political agenda.

I agree that lack of diversity on the federal bench is a concern, and qualified black candidates should be given strong consideration. But they should be persons of integrity and intellect and fairness, who hold the law in utmost respect.

Abdul Kallon is none of those things. He should not be on the federal bench, and he certainly should not be promoted.

As for Merrick Garland, we hope Obama actually has nominated a qualified individual. And we hope he receives a fair hearing in the U.S. Senate.

If Garland is as honorable as he appears to be (at the moment), we are all for him. If he is cut from the same cloth as Abdul Kallon, he should be summarily rejected.

Ashley Madison customers revealed: Missouri attorney Robert M.N. Palmer, head of Springfield Metropolitan Bar, is paying customer at extramarital-affair Web site

Robert M.N. Palmer
(From LinkedIn)

The president of the bar association in Missouri's third-largest city is a paying customer of the Ashley Madison (AM) extramarital-affair Web site, records show.

Robert M.N. Palmer, who has practiced law in Missouri for 34 years, was installed as president of the Springfield Metropolitan Bar in January 2016.

Palmer started a solo law practice in 1990, and it since has morphed into the Law Offices of PalmerOliver, with offices at 431 S. Jefferson (Suite 120) in Springfield.

Has Palmer enjoyed a successful legal career? It sure sounds like it. From his bio at the firm Web site:

Robert M. N. Palmer has represented clients in complex litigation in over 60 jury trials as lead attorney in over 34 states. He has obtained verdicts and judgments for his clients in excess of $100,000,000, including a verdict in Missouri for $21,000,000. He is currently President of the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association; past-President of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys; past-President of Attorneys Information Exchange Group; a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy; certified as a Super Lawyer (Missouri and Kansas); ranked as one of America's Top Lawyers; AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell (over 15 years); member of the American Association of Justice, American Board of Trial Advocates and International Society of Barristers. He received the 2009 Orrin G. Hatch Distinguished Trial Lawyer Award from Brigham Young University. He lectures nationally to bar and professional trial associations on numerous topics including pretrial-discovery, evidence, use of experts and focus groups, and preemption. He has published numerous articles in national trial magazines.

With all of that going for him, why is Palmer messing around at Ashley Madison? That's hard to say, but public records indicate he's had some rocky times on the personal front.

Brent Bothwell Palmer
(From Facebook)

He married Susan Marie Schmucker in 1975, and they divorced 10 years later. He then married Brent Bothwell Palmer, and they have three children--Joshua Daniel Palmer, Samuel Lester Bothwell Palmer, and William Stuart Bothwell Palmer.

Brent Bothwell Palmer filed for divorce in 1994, but the parties reconciled, and the case was dismissed.

We twice contacted Robert Palmer, seeking comment for this post. He did not respond to our queries.

Palmer is the son of the late Bob Palmer, an award-winning editorial cartoonist for almost 40 years with the Springfield News-Leader.

Previously:

(1) Edgar C. Gentle III--attorney at Gentle Turner Sexton and Harbison, Birmingham, AL (3/8/16)

(2) Stewart Springer--attorney, solo practice in Birmingham, AL. (3/9/16)

(3) Richard W. "Dick" Bell--attorney, solo practice in Birmingham, AL (3/14/16)

Ashley Madison customers revealed: Shelby County, Alabama's Richard W. "Dick" Bell, with more than 40 years of legal experience, appears at cheating site

Richard W. Bell's law office is at the
Valleydale Courtyard near Birmingham.

(Third in a series)

A suburban Birmingham attorney, with 44 years of experience in several areas of law, is a paying customer of the Ashley Madison (AM) extramarital-affair Web site, records show.

Richard W. "Dick" Bell, who has an office at 4956 Valleydale Road in north Shelby County, is known primarily for divorce and family law. He also has worked in product liability, probate inheritance, and medical malpractice.

What kind of lawyer is Bell. A man named Trey Horton posted a less-than-glowing review:

Trey Horton 

8 months ago

Went in, Very old guy.... I told him about some tax things I would like to take care of. Paid him $500 - he said he was going to the IRS to pull my transcripts (that can be pulled online) the next day so when I met him next I asked to see them. Since he said he spent all day down there getting them and used the $500 I paid him.. . He could not produce them. Never saw them. I asked him what I needed to do, he offered no sort of plan, no sort of advice. Said let's offer them xyz and see what they say.... Give me a break. I can do that myself... Never went back. hate being lied to. Lost $500 beware...

Was Bell too tied up with Ashley Madison to tend to Mr. Horton's legal needs properly? Records made public from last summer's hack of the AM Web site suggest the answer might be yes.

Public records indicate Bell has been married multiple times--at least twice, to Nancy V. Bell and Cynthia A. Bell. A Pamela Bell was associated with him in the 1970s.

Records show that during much of the 1980s, Bell had significant tax issues with both the IRS and Alabama Department of Revenue

Based on published reports, it appears that Richard and Cindy Bell remain husband and wife. Cindy Bell ran as a Democrat for the State Senate  in 2014 against long-time GOP incumbent J.T. "Jabo" Waggoner." and is a nurse and military veteran. Waggoner won the race with roughly 80 percent of the vote.

Cindy Bell
(From democracy.com)

It's typical of Shelby County to re-elect a GOP warhorse over a Democrat who might actually help drag the county into the 20th century (never mind the 21st century). Cindy Bell sounds pretty cool and darned competent to me. Both Mrs. Schnauzer and I probably would have voted for her if we hadn't been trying to stave off a wrongful foreclosure, apparently launched by certain powerful Republicans.

This is from Cindy Bell's political biography:

Hard work. Trust. Honesty. Those are the values Cindy learned from her mother, who learned them from her father and mother. Those are the values Cindy will bring to Montgomery.

Today, Cindy and her husband, Richard, live those values. She is a mother of three children, Elliott, Erin, and Mandy, a grandmother of seven grandchildren, and the owner of an English bulldog named Winston. Cindy and her husband are active members in their church, where she sings every Sunday in the choir. Cindy’s family and community inspire her desire to serve Alabamians in the State Senate

Erin Bell Welborn, is an attorney with the Columbiana firm of J. Welborn and Associates.  She and her mother, Cindy Bell, sound like first-class folks. Not so sure the same can be said for Richard W. Bell, given his interest in Ashley Madison and the cheating it promotes.

We twice contacted Richard W. Bell via e-mail seeking comment for this post. He did not respond. His Web site, richardwbelllaw.com, no longer is functioning. It apparently disappeared not long after we first contacted him about this story.


Previously:

(1) Edgar C. Gentle III--attorney at Gentle Turner Sexton and Harbison, Birmingham, AL (3/8/16)

(2) Stewart Springer--attorney, solo practice in Birmingham, AL. (3/9/16)

Owner of ranch where Scalia died received favorable treatment in the form of an unpublished opinion, long before his company's case reached SCOTUS

Antonin Scalia's wealthy hunting buddy,
John B. Poindexter
(From nytimes.com)

A Texas businessman who owned the remote ranch where U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died last month, received a favorable ruling last year in an unpublished opinion before a federal appellate court.

Multiple news outlets have reported that John B. Poindexter, owner of Cibolo Creek Ranch and the Houston-based manufacturing firm J.B. Poindexter and Co., received a favorable outcome when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal on an employment-discrimination case involving one of his subsidiaries. According to news reports, Scalia's expenses-paid hunting trip to Poindexter's ranch was a "gift."

Was it a possible kickback for court-related favors the justice had provided? The answer to that question is not clear, but it is clear that Poindexter's favorable treatment in the discrimination case (James Hinga v. MIC Group) started long before SCOTUS refused to hear the case.

How? The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (covering Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) upheld a trial court's dismissal of Hinga's discrimination claim on summary judgment. Here is the alarming part: The Fifth Circuit issued an unpublished opinion in Hinga. Based on our experience and research, that can be a sign a ruling is suspect.

We aren't the only ones who hold that opinion of unpublished opinions. A scholar who was considered the "father of modern legal ethics" also had a low opinion of unpublished opinions. (More on that in upcoming posts.)

How do we know the Hinga opinion was unpublished? Well, different courts do it different ways. In the Eleventh Circuit (covering Alabama, Georgia, and Florida) such opinions usually are stamped near the top "Do Not Publish." It's hard to miss. The Fifth Circuit apparently is a bit more subtle about it.

The Hinga opinion includes an asterisk near the name of the justice who authored it, with the following explanation at the bottom of the first page:

* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4

A SCOTUS docket chart for August 2015 also shows that the opinion was unpublished.

Why might an unpublished opinion emit a foul odor? In so many words, the "unpublished" designation suggests issues in the case were so clear-cut that the outcome was obvious and the case deserves to be buried because it has no precedential value.

That might actually hold true in some unpublished cases. But we've seen signs that "Do Not Publish" on an opinion can be a way to cover up judicial skulduggery.

In the Hinga case, it almost surely meant that his appeal was dead on arrival at SCOTUS. Did Scalia do Poindexter a favor, not by making sure the nation's highest court did not hear the case, but by making sure the Fifth Circuit ruled in his hunting friend's favor--and did so in an unpublished fashion that the public was unlikely to notice or question?

How can that happen? We will explain in an upcoming post--and we also will show why a leading legal scholar was not high on unpublished opinions.


(To be continued)

Ashley Madison customers revealed: Birmingham lawyer Stewart Springer puts his wife and children on display--when he isn't seeking extramarital activity

Stewart Springer, with his wife
and daughter
(From stewartspringer.com)

(Second in a series)

A Birmingham attorney who touts his family life at his professional Web site  is a paying customer of the Ashley Madison (AM) extramarital-affair site, records show.

Stewart Springer, who apparently works from his home at 3005 Lake Park Circle in north Shelby County, has worked in several areas of law, but now is focusing on personal injury. At his Web site, Springer touts his willingness to take tough cases to trial, even taking a shot or two at his legal colleagues. (Not surprisingly, I like that.):

The numbers demonstrate that very few lawyers are willing to try cases, and when they do, they are not effective. Contrary to the statistics, Stewart Springer has twenty six years of experience effectively trying cases. Springer has proven to be highly successful inside and outside the courtroom. Outside the courtroom Springer has settled cases in the millions and has represented all types of people including those from his working class background to doctors, lawyers and even judges. Springer has been successful in the courtroom with juries.

Having hauled in a personal injury verdict for a former state senator of $500,000, obtaining a ‘not guilty’ verdict on three felony counts for a Birmingham police officer, and obtaining a verdict in favor of a lawyer and law firm accused of sexual harassment, battery and assault. Springer will try cases and take insurance companies to the courthouse in response to low settlement offers or gamesmanship, even risking a total loss as opposed to settling for less than the fair value.

Springer is "highly successful" outside the courtroom? Does that include his interactions with potential mistresses on the Ashley Madison Web site? Records made public from last summer's hack of the AM Web site suggest the answer might be yes.

That's unfortunate because his biography page indicates he has every reason to enjoy a healthy and satisfying home life. His wife, Allison, is a dental hygienist and owner of a small business. He has three children. From his bio:

Stewart Springer was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama in the '60s so he knows Alabama and how people here live and think. He is married to a dental hygienist and sole owner of a small business. He often says the single best decision he ever made in life was marrying his wife Allison. He has three children Russell, Julia and Caroline.

Springer attended the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa in 1982 and obtained his degree in three and a half years graduating in 1985 with a B.S. degree in Public Relations with a minor in Political Science. While at the University of Alabama, Springer was elected to be a member of the Freshman Forum a very distinguished group of forty freshman students that advised the University. He was appointed to the City of Tuscaloosa Mayor’s Advisory Council serving Mayor Al Dupont a former war hero he greatly admired. Springer was elected by his fellow students to serve as the President of the School of Communication. He was a member of the founding chapter of a national social organization.

Springer praises his parents for setting him on the road to personal success:

Springer graduated from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama. Stewart is most thankful to his parents Dot Springer and Clarence Springer for creating the opportunity for him to become a lawyer through their love, dedication, hard work, sweat and tears, and struggle to send him to an premier law school. Stewart has said “I am happy about becoming a lawyer but I am most proud of my parents for doing so much for me that allowed me such an opportunity. I will never forget what they have done for me when I represent people who need my help”

Stewart Springer seems like the guy who pretty much has it all. So why screw around on Ashley Madison? We twice contacted Springer, seeking comment for this post. He responded to our second query with this comment: "Your story is completely false and defamatory."



Previously:

(1) Edgar C. Gentle III--attorney at Gentle Turner Sexton and Harbison, Birmingham, AL (3/8/16)

Ashley Madison customers revealed: Edgar C. Gentle III,, founding partner with Gentle Turner Sexton law firm in Birmingham, AL is among site's affair seekers

Attorney Edgar C. Gentle III

(First in a series)

The founding partner of a Birmingham law firm known for mass torts and class-action cases is among paying customers at the Ashley Madison (AM) extramarital-affair Web site, records show.

Edgar C. Gentle III has earned both bachelor's and master's degrees at Oxford University in England, where he was a Rhodes Scholar and received Honors in Jurisprudence. In the states, Gentle earned undergraduate degrees at Auburn University and the University of Miami before completing his legal education at the University of Alabama.

Gentle heads Gentle Turner Sexton and Harbison, an eight-lawyer firm that is tucked away in Riverchase, a leafy, moneyed section of the Birmingham suburb, Hoover.

Does Gentle sound like the kind of guy who would participate in a notorious Web site with the motto: "Life is short, have an affair"? You wouldn't think so. But our research shows dozens of high-end professionals--lawyers, doctors, architects, wealth managers, vice presidents, and so on--give the Alabama list an elite feel. The same holds true in Missouri.

According to Gentle's professional biography, he has helped create and administer more than $2 billion in settlements. Here is more about his background:

Mr. Gentle has comprehensive experience in serving as Special Master and Claims Administrator in Mass Tort Litigation, and providing claims administration and financial and business advice to Courts, Settling Parties, and Mass Tort Settlements. He has helped create and administer over $2 Billion in Settlements during the past 20 years.

From 1992 to 2015, Mr. Gentle has served as Special Master and Escrow Agent for the MDL 926 Global Breast Implant Settlement, paying over $1.1 billion dollars in claims. From 2001 until 2003, he was Interim Financial Adviser for the Settlement Facility – Dow Corning Trust (the Dow Corning Breast Implant Settlement) overseeing the investment of over $1 billion and providing tax and accounting support for the Settlement.

Commencing in December 2003, Mr. Gentle was appointed as the Settlement Administrator in the $300 million Anniston, Alabama Tolbert PCB Settlement with Monsanto and Solutia in connection with the administration of a Global Settlement before the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Alabama applicable to approximately 18,000 claimants with respect to PCB contamination of property and PCB personal injury claims. In administering the $300 million settlement, Mr. Gentle has designed the claimant payment program for property damage and personal injury, collected criteria for payments for each of the 18,000 Claimants, ranked the claimants for payment amounts, and remitted payments to each of the claimants. He now helps manage a medical clinic for the claimants in Anniston.

In the legal world, Edgar Gentle has been entrusted with multiple billions of dollars. Is he to be trusted in his personal life? Documents made public after last summer's hack of the Ashley Madison Web site suggest the answer is no.

According to published reports, Gentle does not appear to be currently married. Public records indicate, as of 2013-14, he owns property in Hoover with a woman named Beverly Denise Carlisle.

We twice contacted Gentle via e-mail seeking comment for this post. He replied to our second inquiry with the following statement:

Beverly Carlisle and I were married but are now divorced. In the divorce her share of the property was deeded to me.

(To be continued)

Does Missouri Sheriff Jim Arnott's support for "right to bear arms" mean he's fine with events that led to shooting death of Officer Ashley Guindon in Virginia?

Jim Arnott, sheriff of Greene County, Missouri

The Missouri sheriff who oversaw the brutalization of my wife, Carol--which resulted in her left arm being shattered--apparently would be OK with the February 27 shooting that killed a Virginia police officer during her first day on the job.

Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott, who was responsible for the unlawful eviction last September 9 that led to Carol's broken arm, has shown that he and his minions are dishonest, dim-witted, and dangerous. But Arnott's denseness apparently is not limited to a few unfortunate encounters per year. He seems to wear it proudly all the time.

We recently learned that Arnott is a hypocrite of epic proportions, especially when it comes to his support of the Second Amendment "right to bear arms." He apparently is unaware that the "right to bear arms" can have profoundly negative consequences for law-enforcement officers--such as Ashley Guindon, 28, who was shot and killed while responding to a domestic-dispute call in Prince William County, Virginia, near Washington, D.C.

Funeral for Guindon will be today in her childhood home of Springfield, Massachusetts. Did loose gun laws, and the politicians (like Arnott) who support them, contribute to her death? Here are the facts:

When Guindon and two other officers arrived at the residence, Ronald Hamilton opened fire--killing Guindon and injuring both male officers with her. From a New York Times report on the incident:

A police officer who was fatally shot on her first day on the job was remembered Tuesday as someone who helped in soup kitchens, at suicide prevention programs and at mortuary services for Marines killed overseas.

Thousands of people came to the Hylton Memorial Chapel here to honor the officer, Ashley Guindon, 28. Officer Guindon died Saturday when she and two other Prince William County police officers were investigating a domestic disturbance at a home in Woodbridge, about 20 miles south of Washington.

As the officers approached the front door of the house, a gunman opened fire, hitting all three, the police said. Officer Guindon later died at a hospital; the other two officers were treated for their wounds. The suspect, Ronald W. Hamilton, 32, who the police said also fatally shot his wife before they arrived, was arrested on murder charges.

Jim Arnott, from the safety of his office in Springfield, Missouri, apparently would be glad that Ronald Hamilton had easy access to a gun--even if he wound up using it on law-enforcement officers.

Arnott stated in a recent article that he supports a citizen's right to carry a concealed weapon--even on a college campus, almost everywhere. But how do Arnott and his deputies react when they think a citizen might have a gun, inside his own home? They act like hyper-caffeinated storm troopers, bursting into private property, with at least one assault rifle and roughly a half dozen handguns drawn--for an eviction that could not lawfully be conducted.

Ashley Guindon
(From smh.com)

The citizen, in this case, was me. So why did Arnott and Co. think I had a gun? They claimed I had called 911 here in Springfield, Missouri, and threatened to shoot anyone who tried to evict Carol and me. Never mind that I've never called 911 in my life--about any matter, anywhere. Never mind that I've never owned a gun, never fired anything beyond a B-B gun, and never shown any history of using firearms. Never mind that law enforcement could not have had any legitimate evidence that I planned to shoot anyone.

So where does hypocrisy enter the picture? If Arnott truly wants every citizen to be armed--inside and outside the home, even on college campuses--he and his deputies should treat every encounter accordingly. It should be no surprise to them if someone is "packing heat"; they should be expecting it. So why the SWAT-team antics with us?

How did Arnott's avid support for concealed weapons--and his raging hypocrisy--come to light. A Missouri legislator, Rep. Jered Taylor (R-Nixa), has proposed a bill that would allow Missourians to buy guns tax free on the Saturday after the Fourth of July. A reporter decided to get Arnott's views on the matter and discovered the sheriff thinks Taylor's bill is a swell idea. From the article:

Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott said he would like to see civilians be allowed to carry concealed weapons on campuses and elsewhere.

"The more people that have a weapon, that have taken the time to learn how to use it and learn what their rights are and where their liability lands when they do use, the better off we are as a society," Arnott said.

Asked if the training required to carry a concealed weapon was enough to allow a person to respond in an active shooter situation, Arnott said no but that gun owners should seek out continued training.

"Firearms training should be ongoing, but I'm for people carrying concealed weapons. I think it's a deterrent, and I'm for people being able to protect themselves and their family," he said.

Let's ponder what Arnott is saying here. He admits that state-required training is not nearly enough to allow a citizen to respond safely and effectively in an active shooter situation. But Arnott wants poorly trained citizens, who essentially have no clue how to properly handle a firearm, to carry guns everywhere

Imagine this scenario: About 70,000 pack people pack Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium in Columbia for a big University of Missouri football game in the Southeastern Conference. Let's say the opponent is the defending national champion Alabama Crimson Tide. (With Nick Saban as head coach, plus the buying pow . . . I mean influence of Paul Bryant Jr., you are always safe assuming Alabama is defending a national title.) Perhaps 60,000 Missourians in the crowd are carrying concealed weapons--and maybe a few have had a little something to drink.

Nick Saban

With the game surprisingly close in the fourth quarter, the officials blow a call that winds up costing Missouri the game. Fans start shooting at the officials. They even shoot at Nick Saban, who thanks to his God-like status, is equipped with a protective shield that causes bullets to bounce off and hit his players.

Injured and dead officials, players, fans, and assistant coaches litter the playing surface. But somewhere, Jim Arnott and Rep. Jered Taylor must be smiling. Concealed weapons on college campuses--just what we need for a safer America.

Just to show that not everyone in Missouri is a right-wing lunatic, consider the words of Rep. Stacey Newman (D-St. Louis). She has consistently pushed for stronger gun regulations:

Newman said the notion that allowing students to carry concealed weapons on campuses would make them safer in the event of a mass shooting is a "false argument." She said the eight hours of firearms training required for concealed carry permits is nowhere near enough training to prepare someone to respond to an active shooter situation.

"It's laughable. It's completely laughable," Newman said.

Yes, it is laughable--that someone like Jim Arnott is in any position of authority and influence.

It's also ironic, that Arnott and his gang stormed our apartment with at least a half dozen weapons drawn, while we had not a single weapon on the premises--and there was no reason to believe we did have a weapon or had a history of using weapons. When Officer Guindon and her two colleagues approached the residence in the D.C. area, they encountered a man who was armed and more than willing to use firepower. It probably is a miracle that all three officers weren't killed.

Most importantly, it's profoundly sad that a promising young officer such as Ashley Guindon lost her life--largely because public officials like Jim Arnott know that support for the "right to bear arms" will help them win votes.

As Robert Bentley administration teeters in Alabama, our reporting on the governor's extramarital affair with aide Rebekah Caldwell Mason looms extra large

Gov. Robert Bentley and
Rebekah Caldwell Mason
(From HBTV.us)

The administration of Alabama Governor Robert Bentley appears to be inching toward an implosion, amid reports that Bentley might have unlawfully interfered in the investigation of House Speaker Mike Hubbard (R-Auburn).

That's serious, by itself. But consider these broader questions: How important was the Web press in educating the public about a governor who increasingly seems to be out of control? Specifically, how important was Legal Schnauzer in uncovering a story that shows signs of growing into a monumental scandal? The answer to both questions is "very."

The recent revelations probably never would have been known if we had not broken the story last August of Bentley's affair with aide Rebekah Caldwell Mason. Would Alabama's right-leaning mainstream media (MSM) ever have broke that story? We doubt it. Did we receive heat from various MSM outlets for daring to report the story? We sure as heck did?

It's not just that Legal Schnauzer is able and willing to report on stories the MSM would rather keep under wraps. Any serious journalism outfit is only as good as its sources--and I've been fortunate to have darned good ones. I had good ones on the Rob Riley-Liberty Duke story, the Bill Pryor-gay porn story, and the Luther Strange-Jessica Medeiros Garrison story.

I've been sued twice connected to those stories. I've been kidnapped and unlawfully incarcerated; our home went through a dubious foreclosure; my wife, Carol, and I went through an unlawful eviction that led to a cop breaking her arm. And still, my reporting never has been proven to be false or defamatory at trial--and that's because there was no trial (a jury trial is required in defamation cases, by law) in either case. (See here and here.)

Through all of that, Legal Schnauzer remains. And my sources on the Bentley-Mason story have proven to be just as strong as those on the earlier stories mentioned above.

Our blog is not the only Web-based news operation to do heavy lifting on the Bentley story--and especially the Hubbard story. Bill Britt, of Alabama Political Reporter (APR), has covered both with a doggedness that generally seems to be beyond the MSM's capabilities. Here is how Britt described Bentley's latest difficulties in a post published yesterday:

Insiders privy to meetings between Secretary of Law Enforcement Spencer Collier and Gov. Robert Bentley claim, the Governor asked Collier to tell the State’s Attorney General’s Office that an investigation into Deputy Attorney General Matt Hart was on going, when it was not.

Bentley’s conversation with Collier was due to an investigation into allegations made by attorney and radio host, Baron Coleman, that he concluded that Hart had improperly share Grand Jury information with him. This resulted in an affidavit from Collier and Special Agent Jack Wilson, stating the Coleman allegations against Hart had no merit.

Bentley told al.com that he ordered Collier not to give the affidavit to the Attorney General’s Office. According to those with intimate knowledge of the situation, Bentley asked Collier to tell the Attorney General’s Office that the investigation into Coleman’s allegations against Hart was ongoing.

Where could this lead? Britt explains:

If these individuals’ claims are factual, there may be more to the story than an order from Bentley to his Chief of Law Enforcement Officer.

Those in the meeting when Bentley told Collier he should tell the Attorney General Office the investigation was ongoing were: Special Agent Jack Wilson, ALEA, Chief Attorney Jason Swann and the Governor’s attorney David Byrne.

Law Enforcement officers speaking on background said this falls under several state statues including providing false statements or witness tampering.

Where does Rebekah Caldwell Mason fit into the picture? Britt provides insight, borrowing from reports of al.com's Chuck Dean and John Archibald:

Those inside the administration have even said the recent firings of ALEA top officials and those close to Collier are related to “internal investigation into possible criminal wrongdoing by some employees and staff related to the misappropriation of State dollars and resources,” according to an article by Chuck Dean, an intimate of Bentley’s chief advisor, Rebekah Caldwell Mason.

Columnist John Archibald recently wrote, “Her very word sends shivers through state employees. Because they believe she is the de facto governor, that her word has become Alabama law.”

Close associates of the Governor have expressed grave concern about their relationship, fearing Mason is encouraging Bentley to engage in a public cover-up that includes the firing of: JT Jenkins, ALEA’s second-in-command; Jay Howell; Camilla Gibson; and Collier’s personnel assistant, Merritt Hayes.

Rebekah Mason is encouraging the governor to engage in a cover-up? If that proves to be true, there is no telling how ugly this story could get--and Alabama's already dysfunctional government could get even more inept.

Where is the story headed? That's hard to say. But we know for sure where it started. With Bill Britt's top-notch reporting, the Web press continues to lead the way.

Our series "Ashley Madison customers revealed" begins next week; meanwhile lawsuits are being consolidated for hearing in St. Louis, Missouri

Our series "Ashley Madison customers revealed" starts next week, shining light on professional elites from Alabama and Missouri who paid to seek extramarital affairs at the now infamous Web site. We hope eventually to be able to unmask AM customers from other states, as well. But that's not the only news shaking on the Ashley Madison front.

The Ashley Madison scandal, which broke last July, has led to a veritable flower garden of lawsuits, with complaints popping up around the country like new blossoms--or weeds, depending on your viewpoint. The lawsuits have become so numerous that they require consolidation, and the process is taking place now in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, Missouri, where the cases will be heard.

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation made the decision in early December to base the cases in St. Louis. How convenient, since we happen to currently be based in Missouri.

That's ironic because Legal Schnauzer is one of only two Web sites I'm aware of--the other is gotnews.com--that have provided significant reporting on customers of Ashley Madison--the extramarital-cheating Web site, with the motto: "Life is short; have an affair." Our reporting has been based on AM customer lists for the two states--Alabama and . . . Missouri--where my wife and I have lived over the past two years.

So imagine our surprise to learn that our current home state will become Ground Zero for Ashley Madison litigation. From a January 31 report at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Last summer’s hacking of a website dedicated to arranging romantic infidelity led to angst, embarrassment, accusations and potentially complicated litigation that is all coming here.

Lawsuits filed across the country against Avid Life Media LLC, owner of AshleyMadison.com, are being consolidated in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.

Two dozen lawyers representing Avid and current or former clients met this week with District Judge John Ross. More listened in by phone as Ross scheduled a series of motions and told the attorneys he soon will pick leaders among them to streamline handling of the case.

Here is more information about how St. Louis came to be the center of the Ashley Madison universe. Much of it has to do with geography, and St. Louis' location near the heart of the country.

The Birmingham law firm Heninger Garrison Davis has filed several class-action complaints involving Ashley Madison, mostly in California and Texas.

How much money is at stake and how wide-ranging are the AM cases? An article from thexpertinstitute.com provides some clues:

The original class action, filed by two Canadian law firms, sought to recover $578 million in damages against Avid Life Media. This lawsuit, along with four other class action suits, were centralized in St. Louis, MO, in December, 2015. The cases being consolidated stem from Alabama, Missouri, Illinois, California and Texas. There are still 13 related actions pending in eight different districts that were not included in the consolidation at this time.

How will the consolidated cases proceed? That apparently depends on how the court decides to handle a major issue--privacy. From the Post-Dispatch:

One issue will be the continuing privacy of people who signed on to the site, whose slogan is: “Life is short. Have an affair.” It has boasted of millions of clients, in 50 countries and every U.S. ZIP code.

Ross said lawyers would have to file motions by Feb. 15 to allow plaintiffs to continue using pseudonyms to press their cases. The company can then respond. Lawyers have until March 22 to file a consolidated class action complaint.

Robert A. Atkins, one of the lawyers for Avid Life, said that he expects that some of the 50 or so plaintiffs might drop out of the lawsuit if they have to reveal their real names. Roughly 40 filed as John or Jane Doe or some variation.

If Avid Life Media has its way, the cases might never see a courtroom:

And [Atkins] said a clause in the users’ agreement might put the lawsuit on hold while clients’ claims are handled in arbitration in a venue of the company’s choosing.

St. Louis attorney John Driscoll told Ross that plaintiffs’ lawyers may need some limited information from the company before they proceed, so they know which clients were covered under what versions of user agreements. He said that the arbitration requirement didn’t exist in the beginning, and he disputed whether it could be enforced against anyone.

Driscoll represents a woman from Maryland Heights who is among clients complaining that after quitting the service they paid extra to have their personal information removed but it was not done.

Last summer, hackers harvested data from the company, then released it online when the company refused to shut down the website. That stolen information included user names, emails, home addresses, messages and partial credit card information.

What legal issues are in play?

Besides complaints of breached personal information, some plaintiffs claim fraud, alleging — as some analysts have — that the hacked data showed tens of thousands of the site’s profiles of women seeking flings were merely computer-generated “fembots.” Those allegedly sent millions of messages to male customers in an attempt to garner more money.

The company has denied the claims about fembots, saying in August that the ratio of paying men to women active on the site was 1.2 to 1 in the first six months of 2015.

A tech Web site called anewdomain.com ran an article that includes copies of several federal complaints against Ashley Madison and Avid Life.

The notion of plaintiffs using pseudonyms to press their cases may, or may not, fly in court. It certainly will not fly here. To our knowledge, Legal Schnauzer will be the only Web site providing detailed background information--and real names--on AM customers. That many of them hold exalted positions of trust in corporations and institutions . . . well, that adds an extra layer of significance to the story.


(To be continued)

Donald Trump builds strange alliance with Alabama "prostitute" Jeff Sessions and Bill Pryor, the U.S. judge who avoids questions about his ties to 1990s gay porn

Bill Pryor at badpuppy.com

After yesterday's Super Tuesday results, Donald Trump took several major steps toward securing the Republican Party presidential nomination. Trump handily won the Alabama vote, and that has interest on a variety of levels. "The Donald" already seems to have formed an alliance with two of Alabama's most oily right-wing politicos--U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions and U.S. Circuit Judge Bill Pryor.

Sessions endorsed Trump on Sunday, a move that inspired National Review to call Alabama's junior senator "a prostitute." We don't agree with National Review on much, but we think the storied conservative periodical is on target here. And we think NR used an interesting term, given the reported skeletons that Sessions and his acolyte, Judge Pryor, have in their respective closets.

Speaking of Pryor, how did the Birmingham-based federal judge respond to questions about his possible nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, an idea Donald Trump floated, apparently without realizing Pryor has ties to 1990s gay pornography?

How did Pryor respond to questions about his possible role in my unlawful arrest and five-month incarceration, events that came suspiciously close in time to initial reports here about the nude photos of Pryor that appeared at badpuppy.com?

How did Pryor respond to questions about his knowledge of a scheme--possibly involving Alabama lawyers and GOP operatives Rob Riley and Jessica Medeiros Garrison--to have me falsely imprisoned and to have the house my wife, Carol, and I had owned for 25 years forced into a foreclosure that likely was wrongful?

Jeff Sessions and Donald Trump
(From studentprintz.com)

In the wake of Trump's recent announcement that he would consider Pryor as a possible nominee to the nation's highest court, I sent Pryor an e-mail seeking an interview or comment about that--and other issues noted above. Pryor apparently wanted no part of such a discussion because he did not respond to my query.

Such cowardice reminds me of Sessions--and another Trump supporter, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Here are a few of the harsh words NR's Ian Tuttle had for those two:

Presumably, Christie thinks an endorsement will increase the likelihood of his securing a position in a Trump administration (and given Trump’s financial history, that is a likelier prospect than his receiving 30 pieces of silver). But he has agreed to be, for the next several months, willingly at the end of Trump’s leash, evidence of which was Trump and Christie’s brief exchange after Christie’s speech in Arkansas: “Get on the plane and go home,” Trump said, caught on a hot mic. “It’s over. Go home.” There are pimps and prostitutes with more equitable relationships.

Speaking of prostitutes: On Sunday, Alabama senator Jeff Sessions offered Trump his own endorsement. Sessions is, of course, the Republican party’s famous immigration hawk — a fierce, and fiercely intelligent, opponent of unchecked immigration, of amnesty, and of the various abuses of visa programs that large businesses use to undermine American labor. So, naturally, he endorsed the candidate who has proposed a de facto amnesty in which the federal government would first expend astronomical quantities of money and labor to round up 11 million illegal immigrants residing in the country, escort them to their home countries — and then let them back in (provided, of course, that they’re sufficiently “terrific”); he endorsed the candidate who has abused the H-2B visa system to import foreign workers to do “jobs Americans won’t do” — like model fashion; and he endorsed the candidate who has employed illegal immigrants on his building projects as recently as July of last year. Perhaps the senator thinks that Donald Trump, having touted his promises so publicly, will be made to go through with them. If so, he should consult with Trump’s business associates, employees, and two ex-wives about the reliability of Mr. Trump’s promises.

As for Pryor, I'm not surprised he would ignore tough questions about topics that likely make him more than a little uncomfortable. But I wanted to share my query with readers, to help give an idea of just how dirty Pryor might be. As you probably can tell from the tone of my questions, I did not try to disguise the contempt I feel for Pryor and his compatriots, Riley and Garrison. Given the prominent role Pryor played in the bogus investigation of former Alabama Democratic Governor Don Siegelman, I did not try to hide my suspicion that Pryor is capable of some extremely lowdown actions.

Bill Pryor, the federal judge
(From nbcnews.com)

Here is the e-mail I sent on February 16 to Pryor. Even though he holds a lifetime appointment, one funded by taxpayer dollars, Pryor apparently feels it is beneath him to answer tough questions. But I think it's important for the citizens who fund Pryor's cushy job on the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to know of serious and ugly issues that seem to rest on the judge's plate.

The tagline on the e-mail is "Inquiry about Donald Trump comments re: your possible nomination to U.S. Supreme Court." Here is the body of the e-mail:

Judge Pryor:

I am a reporter from Birmingham, with more than 30 years of professional experience in the field and a bachelor's degree in journalism. I write the blog Legal Schnauzer, which focuses on justice issues in Alabama, the Deep South, and beyond. My reporting was cited in the U.S. House Judiciary Committee's hearing in fall 2007 on political prosecutions under the George W. Bush administration.

I would like to request an interview about Donald Trump's recent statement that, if elected president, he would consider nominating you to the U.S. Supreme Court. Trump's statements seem to have particular significance in light of my reports in fall 2013 that photos of you appeared on a gay pornography site, badpuppy.com, in 1997. Multiple sources told me then that you posed for these full-frontal nude photographs while a student at Northeastern Louisiana University (now University of Louisiana Monroe) in the 1980s. I further understand they originally appeared in a four-color magazine, and surfaced again at the Bad Puppy Web site.

A few questions I would like to address in an interview:

* Would it be appropriate for you to consider a SCOTUS nomination, given the gay-porn photos in your background--and your public statements indicating you oppose gay rights. Multiple sources say you were confronted about the photographs in roughly 1997, long before your nomination to the federal bench. Did you disclose information about these photos to the FBI and U.S. Senate when going through confirmation for your current position?

* What does the presence of such photographs say about your judgment and your suitability for a position on the federal bench?

* Were you asked about these photographs--or other potentially embarrassing and/or corrupting background information--during the confirmation process for your position on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals? If so, did you answer truthfully? If you failed to disclose this information, what does that say about your suitability for a role on the federal bench? Did you effectively lie to Congress and is that a crime?

* On a personal note, I was unlawfully arrested--kidnapped, actually, because no warrant ever has been presented--and sent to jail for five months not long after I began investigating your ties to gay pornography. My kidnapping was conducted under the guise of a defamation lawsuit brought by Rob Riley, and at about the same time, I also faced a lawsuit from Jessica Medeiros Garrison. I understand that both Rob Riley and Jessica Garrison are long-time political allies of yours. It should be noted that, by law, my reporting never has been found defamatory at trial in either the Riley or Garrison cases. Some related questions:

A. Did you order my unlawful arrest (kidnapping) and imprisonment?

B. Did you participate in any way in a scheme to have me (and my wife, Carol) kidnapped and imprisoned? If so, what kind of deviant person are you?

C. Would you turn over all of your communications--e-mails, text messages, phone records, etc.--from Sept. 2013 until the present? Would you allow me and/or law enforcement to review these records? Would you request that Rob Riley, Jessica Garrison, Luther Strange and Liberty Duke also turn over similar records? Would you turn over all of this information to the Trump campaign?

D. Do you have any knowledge about the likely unlawful foreclosure, in spring 2014, on the house my wife and I had owned for 25 years? This foreclosure started while I was in jail and could not help defend our property rights. The imprisonment and foreclosure appear to be connected. Were you involved in both?

If nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court, would you be the kind of justice who has journalists beaten and kidnapped from their own homes, and sent to jail, while their homes are essentially stolen via dubious foreclosures? Is that the kind of judge you are now? Does that reflect your view of the First Amendment?

Trump's comments represent a breaking story, so I ask that you respond to this e-mail by 5 p.m. on 2/17/15 (Wednesday).

Sincerely,

Roger Shuler

legalschnauzer.blogspot.com

(205) 381-5673