Orly Taitz, the lawyer and de facto leader of the “Birther” litigation, has filed a motion to withdraw from further representation of Dr. Connie Rhodes after Rhodes accused her of filing new papers in Rhodes v. MacDonald without her approval and after she agreed to be deployed by the military. Taitz is also facing a possible $10,000 fine from United States District Court Judge Clay D. Land, who previously dismissed the action. Taitz declared in one filing: “This case is now a quasi-criminal prosecution of the undersigned attorney.” She is already facing a California bar complaint and Rhodes is promising to file a new complaint against her for her “reprehensible” representation.
The latest development in this unraveling case began when Rhodes learned that Taitz had filed a motion to stay deployment after she had decided to forego further litigation. She then proceeded to fire Taitz by sending a remarkable letter from Office Max on the advice of “Tim who works in the District Clerk’s office.” She stated in the fax:
September 18th, 2009
To the Honorable Judge Land:
Currently, I am shipping out to Iraq for my deployment. I became aware on last night’s local news that a Motion to Stay my deployment had been entered on my behalf. I did not authorize this motion to be filed. I thank you for hearing my case and respect the ruling given on September 16th, 2009. It is evident that the original filing for the TRO and such was full of political conjecture which was not my interest. I had no intention of refusing orders nor will I. I simply wanted to verify the lawfulness of my orders. I am honored to serve my country and thank you for doing the same.
With that I said, please withdraw the Motion to Stay that Ms. Taitz filed this past Thursday. I did not authorize it and do not wish to proceed. Ms. Taitz never requested my permission nor did I give it. I would not have been aware of this if I did not see it on the late news on Thursday night before going to board my plane to Iraq on Friday, September 18, 2009.
Furthermore, I do not wish for Ms. Taitz to file any future motion or represent me in any way in this court. It is my plan to file a complaint with the California State Bar to her reprehensible and unprofessional actions.
I am faxing this as was advised by Tim, who works in the District Clerk’s office. I will mail the original copy of this letter once I have arrived in Iraq.
Respectfully,
CPT Connie M. Rhodes, MD
I am a bit curious that all of this case appears to have been a surprise to Rhodes despite endless coverage in the papers and cable shows. It is curious that she never acted to sever representation before this time.
In her Motion for Leave to Withdrawal as Counsel, Taitz suggests that her client is lying to the Court.
She states that she not only has a (rather obvious) conflict with her former client but may present evidence that is embarrassing to her:
The undersigned attorney comes before this Court to respectfully ask for leave to withdraw as counsel for the Plaintiff Captain Connie Rhodes. The immediate need for this withdrawal is the filing of two documents of September 18, 2009, one by the Court, Document 17, and one apparently by Plaintiff Connie Rhodes, which together have the effect of creating a serious conflict of interest between Plaintiff and her counsel. In order to defend herself, the undersigned counsel will have to contest and potentially appeal any sanctions order in her own name alone, separately from the Plaintiff, by offering and divulging what would normally constitute inadmissible and privileged attorney-client communications, and take a position contrary to her client’s most recently stated position in this litigation. The undersigned attorney will also offer evidence and call witnesses whose testimony will be adverse to her (former) client’s most recently stated position in this case. A copy of this Motion was served five days ago on the undersigned’s former client, Captain Connie Rhodes, prior to filing this with the Court and the undersigned acknowledges her client’s ability to object to this motion, despite her previously stated disaffection for the attorney-client
relationship existing between them. This Motion to Withdraw as Counsel will in no way delay the proceedings, in that the Plaintiff has separately indicated that she no longer wishes to continue to contest any issue in this case. In essence, this case is now a quasi-criminal prosecution of the undersigned attorney, for the purpose of punishment, and the Court should recognize and acknowledge the essential ethical importance of releasing this counsel from her obligations of confidentiality and loyalty under these extraordinary circumstances.Respectfully submitted,
By:_________________________
Orly Taitz, DDS, Esq.
California Bar ID No. 223433
FOR THE PLAINTIFF
Captain Connie Rhodes, M.D. F.S.
SATURDAY, September 26, 2009
“Quasi-criminal prosecution”? The judge had ordered Taitz to “show cause” why a sanction should not be imposed in the case. He had previously told Taitz that he would consider sanctions if she filed similar claims in the future. After the denial of the Motion to Stay deployment, Land said that the latest filing was “deja vu all over again” including “her political diatribe.” He notes:
Instead of seriously addressing the substance of the Court’s order, counsel repeats her political diatribe against the President, complains that she did not have time to address dismissal of the action (although she sought expedited consideration), accuses the undersigned of treason, and maintains that “the United States District Courts in the 11th Circuit are subject to political pressure, external control, and . . . subservience to the same illegitimate chain of command which Plaintiff has previously protested.”
Then the kicker:
The Court finds Plaintiff’s Motion for Stay of Deployment (Doc. 15) to be frivolous. Therefore, it is denied. The Court notifies Plaintiff’s counsel, Orly Taitz, that it is contemplating a monetary penalty of $10,000.00 to be imposed upon her, as a sanction for her misconduct. Ms. Taitz shall file her response within fourteen days of today’s order showing why this sanction should not be imposed.
I am frankly not convinced that sanctions would be appropriate for filing for a motion to stay deployment per se. At the time of his order, Land did not presumably know that the filing was made against the wishes of the client. If Rhodes was interested in appealing Land’s decision, which is her right, a stay is a standard request. However, the fact that the filing may have been made after Taitz was terminated as counsel and after she was told that Rhodes was abandoning the case is more cause for possible sanctions. Moreover, the low quality and over-heated rhetoric of the filing can support such sanctions. Her filings appear more visceral than legal. In demanding reconsideration of the Court’s earlier order, she used language that does cross the line:
This Court has threatened the undersigned counsel with sanctions for advocating that a legally conscious, procedurally sophisticated, and constitutionally aware army officers corps is the best protection against the encroachment of anti-democratic, authoritarian, neo-Fascistic or Palaeo-Communistic dictatorship in this country, without pointing to any specific language, facts, or allegations of fact in the Complaint or TRO as frivolous. Rule 11 demands more of the Court than use of its provisions as a means of suppressing the First Amendment Right to Petition regarding questions of truly historical, in fact epic and epochal, importance in the history of this nation.
She also (as noted by Land in his later order) essentially accused Land of treason, as she has in public statements:
Plaintiff submits that to advocate a breach of constitutional oaths to uphold the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, is in fact a very practical form of “adhering” to those enemies, foreign and domestic, and thus is tantamount to treason, as Defined in Article III, Section 3, even when pronounced in Court. The People of the United States deserve better service and loyalty from the most powerful, and only life-tenured, officers of their government.
Taitz is also facing a California Bar complaint, here. Ohio lawyer (and inactive California bar member) Subodh Chandra wrote the bar, stating “I respectfully request that you investigate Ms. Taitz’s conduct and impose an appropriate sanction. She is an embarrassment to the profession.” For that complaint, click here.
A complaint by a former client would likely attract more attention by the Bar. These are now serious allegations including misrepresentation, false statements to the Court, and other claims that will have to be addressed by a Bar investigation. This could take years to resolve — perhaps just in time for Obama’s second inauguration.
One of my favorite people of all time was a Sergeant. You seem to be under the impression I take “Drill Sergeant” as an insult. Your grip on the English language, much like your grip on reality, seems to be slipping more each day, bdatroll. It’s that steady diet of propaganda you ingest. And as bad as that is for your brain, you should see what it does to the enamel on your teeth.
But let’s be clear.
You are running yourself off, sport. Unless you like the ridicule that comes with being a confessed troll and a bigot by action. Which would make you a masochist. There are better webs sites if you just get your jets blasted by being humiliated. Hey, it’s not my thing, but to each their own as long as kids aren’t involved and no one dies or is maimed.
No, if you feel compelled to flee, it’s your own embarrassment driving the car. You thought you were driving Solutions, but the reality is you are driving Problems. So sad. But it comes down to choices: you choose to support the ideas of, and by extension, bad guys – the very same Neocon crap that started the end of the world for their greed. Once long ago, before you showed your true colors, you asked if I thought you were a bad person (without a doubt I do now) and I said that you didn’t seem bad so much as a guy a with bad ideas. You chose to get behind the wheel of the Problem model just like you choose the wrong tools to make a favorable impression that you are both decent and credible as a source of information and analysis.
You choose your vehicle and you are driving your car.
I’m just helping steer because you aren’t a very good driver.
You really should go back to lurking.
This is F1, not NASCAR. And I drive for Ferrari.
Yes drill sargent.
cus you told me to drill sargent.
That might lead to a case of overlap.
But the doctor can give you a shot. Clears that right up.
Or the money to by a new laptop.
Question: If a porn video, which has dancing in it is played on a laptop, do you have to tip for a lap dance?
AY,
Not everyone can surf porn and work at the same time. It throws off their rhythm.
You do realize you didn’t get frustrated this way when you had quit trolling here?
********************
Maybe his hand was otherwise occupied and he can’t do both. Or maybe he has messed up a keyboard before. Who knows…..
Tsk tsk tsk, bdaloser. That’s the best you got? Weak. But since you mentioned it, I will stipulate that masturbation is a much less odious habit than being a bigoted troll and general propaganda windbag – one which I would enjoy and admit freely whereas doing what you do?
Eh, not so much.
You do realize you didn’t get frustrated this way when you had quit trolling here?
Maybe there’s a correlation.
Gangster of Love?
yea you in a circle jerk, as the pivot man
Awww. Did I hurt your widdle feelin’s?
You could be me, but you’re not.
The truth hurts, doesn’t it?
You can be mad at me all you want. Your total lack of credibility is a train wreck of your creation. The very fabric of your misfortune falling from your fingertips like karmic rain. I just like to draw arrows pointing to it. I am a certified rascal although some call me the Gangster of Love (but that’s another story). However, if you’d like a more appropriate target for your outrage at not being taken seriously, might I suggest the nearest mirror, badman. Sorry. bdaman.
You sank your own battleship, sport. Being pissy about it is the sign of a sore loser. A loser nonetheless, but a sore one for certain.
You’re welcome for the comment.
Vince Treacy
Thanks for your serious answer. Even tho I still have questions, I really appreciate your input. I think that in this world, there will just be some things never fully explained, and will always remain a mystery.
I am bidding farewell to this site. Now that Thanksgiving is over, the food put away and the kitchen cleaned, and the kids all gone home, I just don’t have time for this, as interesting as I sometimes find it.
Lilove
Look on the bright side.
I do Mr. Sunspot. I could be you,
but hey
Thanks for the comment
Coulda shoulda woulda.
The past is fixed (despite what a Neocon revisionist would have you believe). The future does not exist except in our imagination and is therefore fluid within the context of human experience. The only real is now and it stands on the firmament of the past. One may influence the future. Changing the past is impossible. Even if you were to be able to go backward in time (not physically impossible, just difficult in the extreme), you would only be able to change A timeline, not THE timeline. Funny how time prevents things past from being undone and yet preserves all possible futures. The beauty of this symmetry is only equaled by its dual edge.
Time has a direction.
Because if it didn’t, there would be a whole lot of murder victims apologized right back to life.
Removing an “I Work For PNAC” tattoo would be easier than putting the anti-Semite toothpaste back in the tube.
I told you this is a venue that ends badly for you to which your witty reply was somewhere along the lines of “that’s what you say”.
Looks like a lot more people than me are saying that, bdatroll. Guess which end of the stick you are still left holding? See? That’s what happens when you pick up some sticks. You can be sorry all you want. Oppenheimer was sorry. Using some tools has consequences. You using the “Christ Killer” tool irrevocably destroyed your credibility. Oppenheimer using his skills to bring Trinity to fruition ushered in the Age of Death – the first time we as a species really possessed the ability to kill all life as we know it.
You had your choice in tools.
Had. Past tense.
Once done, some choices cannot be undone.
Look on the bright side.
At least you’re in good company if not really much of a conversationalist yourself. When you get to Hell, ask Bobby O. for a drink and get him talking about Shiva. He can go on for hours.
Mike as I have said before, I should have known better. As many times that I have had racial epithets said to me or spat upon, I more than anyone should know not to say what I said. The fact of the matter is I said it. I can’t take it back. I can only ask to be forgiven, after doing so it is no longer in my control.
And I would like to mention AY, he was the last to rip Patty C to shreds which ultimately got her banned. Now that i think about it, I was no different than Patty C as to you as I was to Mike S. I’m sorry
I searched out the original question just to be sure. QUOTE
lilove11 1, November 24, 2009 at 10:36 am
I have read all the posts re: Pres. Obama’s COLB. Lets uncomplicate all the discussion and answer my simple question:
As many people who have asked for his COLB, why has Pres. Obama not produced it. It is a very simple thing to do. (After all these years I have mine and could produce it for anyone who asks in just a matter of minutes.) It is such a simple request and could so easily settle peoples’ minds, as the ramifications of a birth certificate can mean so much. Just produce it and be done with it.
As it is, it tends to make me wonder what the reason for not doing so could possibly be?
Peoples’ imaginations are many times worse than the reality generally.
Notify me of follow-up comments via email. UNQUOTE
The answer then was “The truth is that Obama has produced his Certification of Live Birth (COLB).”
Once again, Obama has produced his COLB. That was the answer given up above, and is still the answer.
For the regulars, Hawaii the ONLY form Hawaii ow issues is the Certification produced by Obama. It does not issue so-called “Certificates” to anyone. The COLB released to the public is the only legal birth certificate available from Hawaii.
Where is the birth certificate? Obama has released the birth certificate.
When will birfers stop beating their wives? Since they never started beating their wives, it is a false question to ask them when they stopped.
What email?
“Mike Spindell I apologize from the bottom of my heart. Sincerley and Honestly”
Never once in all my life have I used a slur to denounce anyone and as you might imagine I’ve had my share of verbal as well as writeen ones.
The reason for this is that I am not a bigot in my heart towards anyone. That you made the statement is positive proof that whether you normally have the social control to suppress your beliefs, this is what you believe in your heart. That is what to me is unforgivable about your behavior.
Bdaman,
What I don’t even get honorable mention? You do get paid to be an ass don’t you?
“It is true what they say of me. I am a troll, birther, rightwing ect. ect….I take pride in that.” signed, bdaman
At the time the 14th Amendment was adopted, the sponsors said that “subject to the jurisdiction therof” was meant to codify the existing law that all persons born the US were citizen except the two narrow categories of diplomats and hostile forces. That is why all persons born in the U.S. are citizens except for those diplomatic or hostile.
The Supreme Court ruled in Wong that children of aliens born in the States are just as much citizens as the children of natural born citizens.
Even if a child’s parents are aliens not eligible for citizenship, it becomes a citizen if born on US soil.
That’s the law.
Byron at that time there were a series of personal attacks here at the Turley Blog. An ongoing rift between a poster by the name of Patty C, Jill, Mike S, Buddah and others including myself.
What I said was completely and utterly out of line and the most disrespectful way another human being could be towards another. I have apologized and will do so again, Mike Spindell I apologize from the bottom of my heart. Sincerley and Honestly. I do not expect you to forgive me for my being forgiven shall only come from the most high. I have asked him, and will have to wait when I face my day of Judgement.
It is true what they say of me. I am a troll, birther,rightwing ect. ect. but in the beginning of posting comments here I took it personal. I’m not here to get along nor to sugar coat. I have a paticular style that most here, if not all do not like. I take pride in that. As the saying goes, it is what it is.
lilove11
“I am aware of the COLB;s shown from Hawaii. However, it does not satisfy what I really want to know, and that is if Pres. Obama is a LEGAL citizen of the US. A COLB merely says he was born alive. My question was a serious one.”
COLB shows that Obama was born in Hawaii, one of the United States. Under the 14th Amendment, all persons born in the US and subject to its jurisdiction are citizens. Therefore, Obama is a US citizen. He was subject to its jurisdiction because his parents were not diplomats or occupying hostile forces. That is why he is a legal citizen of the US.
“One more thing, from all I have read it would not seem to be that much of a challenge to get a COLB in Hawaii.”
It is not hard, and Obama obtained his COLB in 2007, and the campaign released to the press for independent examination in 2008.
The COLB meets the legal definition of “birth certificate” in federal law:
SEC. 7211. MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR BIRTH CERTIFICATES.
Contents
(a) Definition.–In this section, the term “birth
certificate” means a certificate of birth–
(1) for an individual (regardless of where born)–
(A) who is a citizen or national of the
United States at birth; and
(B) whose birth is registered in the United
States; and
(2) that–
(A) is issued by a Federal, State, or local
government agency or authorized custodian of
record and produced from birth records
maintained by such agency or custodian of
record; or
(B) is an authenticated copy, issued by a
Federal, State, or local government agency or
authorized custodian of record, of an original
certificate of birth issued by such agency or
custodian of record.
Section 7211(a) has been codified as a note following Title 5, United States Code, section 301 (5 U.S.C. 301 note):
http://law.justia.com/us/codes/title5/5usc301.html
The COLB is a “certificate” of birth, because it said on its face that any alterations of “this certificate” would render it invalid. It has a certificate number. It was issued to an individual who was a citizen at birth, not a naturalized citizen. His birth was registered in the United States, according to public statements of the responsible custodial officials.
The COLB was issued by a “State … government agency or authorized custodian of record” and it was “produced from birth records maintained by such agency or custodian of record….” In the alternative, it was ”an authenticated copy, issued by a … State, or local government agency or authorized custodian of record, of an original certificate of birth issued by such agency or custodian of record”
So the COLB meets all of the elements of the definition of a “birth certificate.” There is no requirement for the name of the hospital or the names of any witnesses in the definition.