Month: February 2019

Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia executive director Marilyn Smulders is a common US Copyright troll

Lawyers come in all shapes, sizes and varieties folks and I’ve crossed swords with a few by now. Some of those associations ended up with everyone gaining a measure of mutual respect, others not so much. In 2014 my overall litigation strategy was questioned by a judge, rightfully so I’ll add given I was a pro se litigant. I kept my mouth shut and executed on the plan, which I knew would take years to work through and sure enough it did.

Litigating in Federal Court for five years isn’t just any kind of ‘fun’ folks as Uncle Jimbo from South Park nails the experience, in a misery loves company kinda way.When an old lawyer asked me my litigation goal when we first conferred my answer was not to make an ass of myself before the Court, a goal I thought was achievable. Should anyone ever again think it is a good idea to mess with this website or its commenters, the Courthouse doors are wide open to me, of that I am fairly certain.

As for my former adversaries, that $300/day contempt sanction they continue to owe me has added up to a whole lot of money. I do not think they’ll ever be coming back to live in the United States and that is a good thing overall for everyone as they leave collateral damage wherever they go.

Today, the following was published to Slabbed uploads on Scribd: Continue reading “Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia executive director Marilyn Smulders is a common US Copyright troll”

Lana Noonan: Waveland to Begin Publishing its Claims Dockets Online

Lana advises that she made a presentation at the Wednesday Board of Aldermen meeting and after a discussion, “all agreed that no motion was necessary because new City Clerk Mickey Lagasse stated that the dockets will be on the website starting the end of next week.”

This bit of financial transparency is well overdue compared to the others Cities and County government but it is a welcomed development nonetheless. Live streaming the meetings should be the next step.

Eating their own: One practitioner’s take about last year’s Alt-Right attacks on Judge Ozerden

And that practitioner would be me, who was unable to respond to last year’s attacks by Wingnut propaganda outlet Breitbart’s on Judge O because of a matter I had before him.

First a point of disclosure, I’m not a lawyer and never will be. Further I am soon to announce my retirement from the pro se practice of law. My experience as a pro se litigant is somewhat unique because a frequent joke actual lawyers tell is that the Latin translation for pro se is “already lost” and that is true for the overwhelming majority. That was not quite true for me. I’ll have more on that in a week or so.

What is true is that before anyone, pro se or not appears before a Court it is a darn good idea to learn as much about the judge as is possible. I did lots of digging back in 2015 but not being a legal profession insider has its disadvantages because there is only so much information available in the internet.  Judge O, unlike seemingly many of the other local jurists did not grow up on Second Street in Gulfport where I know lots of folks.

That said I did find one tidbit from a now defunct Mississippi website and  that tidbit was that was Judge Ozerden was the kind of Judge that “let the lawyers lawyer”. What that means is if the case is a switchblade fight between the litigants, every one of them better bring some steel to the party or suffer the consequences. Lawyers are officers of the Court and the good ones take the charge very seriously.  That means lawyers resolving a  case among themselves (i.e. settling) is always a very favored outcome.

My experience before Judge O. was that he is exactly as advertised.  In fact my adversaries and I maybe even went a shade above and beyond with our knife fight as the Court used the term “gamesmanship” in an order issued later in the case that it used to describe the scrap. (Just because the lawyers are allowed to lawyer in Judge O’s Courtroom doesn’t mean the Judge or the Magistrate are blind to what the parties are doing.)

This brings me back to the Wingnuts and their heartburn with Judge O:

“No violation of religious liberty and conscience rights in recent years is more infamous than when Obamacare ordered the nuns of the Little Sisters of the Poor to violate Church teachings,” says Susan B. Anthony President Marjorie Dannenfelser exclusively to Breitbart News, referring to the judge’s ruling in Catholic Diocese of Biloxi v. Sebelius. “Judge Halil Suleyman Ozerden has utterly failed to protect people of faith against Obamacare’s assault on religious liberty and conscience rights and does not deserve a promotion to the Fifth Circuit.”

Jackson lawyer Phillip Thomas fills in the blanks that Breitbart didn’t and the bottom line is when alt right Wingnuts decry agenda driven rulings, they are talking about every agenda but their own: Continue reading “Eating their own: One practitioner’s take about last year’s Alt-Right attacks on Judge Ozerden”

“Bodyguard of Lies”: Waveland applies the maxim (poorly) to peacetime small town politics

To set things up let’s do a quick comment bump from Gerald Lampkey (Slightly edited for clarity)

I’m told the alderman had two names on the table for consideration for city clerk, both came with excellent governmental qualifications and both turned down the job before Lagasse was offered the job.

I was told Charlene Black, who supposedly is a certified clerk for Bay St. Louis and a forever long time employee declined the offer. Not sure why she turned the job down, but she would have been a wise choice for Waveland. I’m just curious who was the second person that Waveland was considering?

Versions of this rumor have been circulating in Waveland ever since Mayor Smith made it known he would be backing local good ol’ boy Mickey Lagasse for the City Clerk position. The main incarnation of this rumor was that both Charleen Black and Sissy Gonzales, key Favre Administration employees in the City of Bay St Louis, applied for the vacant City Clerk position. Unlike Mr. Lagasse both of these women possess the qualifications to be City Clerk.

The only problem is the rumors about Ms. Black and Ms. Gonzales, which originated out of Waveland City Hall, are about 95% bullshit. Continue reading ““Bodyguard of Lies”: Waveland applies the maxim (poorly) to peacetime small town politics”

Lusty Lawyer’s Law License Suspended for a Year and a Day

As Slabbed starts its 12th year online the subject of one of our most trafficked topics is back in the news cycle, likely for the last time:

New Orleans lawyer who pleaded with cabbie for sex has law license suspended ~ The NOLA Advocate

Advocate staff writes a good story as it cleans up all the loose ends from back in 2015 including cabbie Harvey Farrell’s civil suit against the City of New Orleans which settled for $40,000.

Newer readers can click here for Slabbed’s archival coverage which included a link from Bubba the Love Sponge, who has not fared too well since then.

Speaking of Florida, I have been told T.S. Dream has been released from the pokey. Time sure does fly!

Other Voices | Tom Callaghan: Seven with a Chance….Amy on Fire…Plus Country Boys

Posted on February 11, 2019

KAMALA HARRIS. Smoking hot with the eye of the tiger. Great listener. Infectious laugh. Lots of charm. Smart. Tough. Charismatic. Question: Can our President and our Dominatrix be the same person?

AMY KLOBUCHAR. As they say in the South, “You say you like Amy Klobuchar, I been liking her.” Calm. Almost sleepy. Very smart. Not a slash and burn type. Opposite of Rick Santorum. Gracious. Not the first choice to lead a revolution. Question: Will Amy Klobuchar be able to stay awake long enough to finish her own Inaugural Address? Oops! Spoke to soon. Amy just knocked it out of the park announcing her candidacy in the MN snow. Dynamite launch. Like I say, I been liking her.

JOE BIDEN. The perfect heart, mind, soul, and temperament of a Vice President for a cerebral aloof somewhat exotic President with a name like Barack Hussein Obama. Joe did that and did it well. His presence on the ticket was an assurance to middle class blue collar whites that Obama was “OK”. When Joe runs for himself he’s like the baseball player who runs until he makes an out. Joe talks until he says something stupid. Question: Can Joe accept the fact there is no shame in never being President?

ELIZABETH WARREN. Stick a fork in her. Continue Reading……

BREAKING: City of Bay St Louis Cited in Preliminary Opinion for Violating Public Record Law

The long and short of this dust up is David Wells asked for a copy of the City’s open litigation list, a document that previous City Attorney Trent Favre kept as a matter of routine. Not only was he stonewalled by City Attorney Heather Ladner Smith, Mr. Wells was then told by Smith the document he asked for didn’t exist, a “fact” the Ethics Commission adopted in its findings. After being stonewalled by Smith, Mr. Wells was able to obtain the document that he requested from Mayor Ice, who evidently understands the value of treating the Citizenry with some respect. Here is the preliminary opinion:

R 18 036 PubRecords by on Scribd

Here is the litigation list as it existed at that time: Continue reading “BREAKING: City of Bay St Louis Cited in Preliminary Opinion for Violating Public Record Law”

Quote of the day….really the century. Thanks Nowdy.

Of all the quality posts the artist known as Nowdoucit wrote for Slabbed, this post which borrowed a quote from Anais Nin is one that sticks with me:

We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.

The notion has application for virtually everyone. I thought about it last night tweeting out the happenings at two public meetings where Slabbed relied on the attendees in order to be three places at once. That said, in an alternate world where I was a lawyer instead of an accountant, I’d carry that quote with me and tape it to my notes before every jury trial.

Abraham Lincoln is very quotable too so instead of the post I could put up today I’ll share a quote that is also applicable:

Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

BREAKING: Bay St Louis City Council Cited for Violating Open Meeting Law (Updated)

On February 1, 2019 the Mississippi Ethics Commission cited the Bay St Louis City Council for violating the Mississippi Open Meeting law in the matter styled Noonan v Mayor and Councilmen of the City of Bay St Louis. In what is a recurring theme with a different cast of characters, the City conducted an improper executive session which resulted in the removal of Ellis Anderson from the Bay St Louis Historical Preservation Commission.

The opinion is not yet on the Ethics Commission website but I have seen portions of it. Essentially the Council and Mayor in the City of Bay St Louis are on the receiving end of an ethics compliant that mostly resulted from not receiving good legal advice from Board attorney Heather Ladner Smith, who failed to caution the Mayor and Council not to act on an item which was not contained on the official meeting agenda. Smith, the politically connected daughter of Hancock County Tax Collector Jimmie Ladner took over as City Attorney when Trent Favre was appointed County Court Judge.

According to Mrs. Noonan, Ms. Smith of the Butler Snow law firm is providing legal services to the City without a formal written contract, a practice the previous administration was advised to discontinue by the Office of the State Auditor.

While Slabbed gathers information to update this post, those so interested should click here for additional background.

Update: Here is the final opinion referenced yesterday. The Council was tagged with not doing their executive session correctly and cites Councilman Smith for trying to conduct deliberations with a majority of the board via email. As Lana Noonan noted in comments today, Councilman Smith was led down the primrose path by City Attorney Heather Ladner Smith. Continue reading “BREAKING: Bay St Louis City Council Cited for Violating Open Meeting Law (Updated)”