The bill is in for Orly Taitz, the California lawyer leading the “Birther” litigation: $20,000 for sanctionable conduct. U.S. District Court Judge Clay Land previously issued a stern warning to attorney Orly Taitz and others in the so-called “birther” campaign: do not file another such “frivolous” lawsuit or you will face sanctions. Land threw out the lawsuit filed on behalf of Capt. Connie Rhodes who is an Army surgeon challenging her deployment orders due to President Barack Obama’s alleged ineligibility to serve as President. Land (a Bush appointee) noted that “[u]nlike in ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ simply saying something is so does not make it so.” In the most recent order, Land said that Taitz’s conduct “borders on delusional.”
Rhodes previously accused Taitz of filing new papers in Rhodes v. MacDonald without her approval and after she agreed to be deployed by the military. 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 “reprehensible” representation.
When Rhodes learned that Taitz had filed a motion to stay deployment after she had decided to forego further litigation, she 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
In her Motion for Leave to Withdrawal as Counsel, Taitz suggested 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 noted:
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.
The court ruled that Taitz violated Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in filing frivolous papers. Declaring the filings as made in “bad faith,” the court concluded that Taitz’s legal conduct was “willful and not merely negligent.” Sanctions were warranted, he held, because “Counsel’s frivolous and sanctionable conduct wasted the Defendants’ time and valuable judicial resources that could have been devoted to legitimate cases pending with the Court.”
“When a lawyer files complaints and motions without a reasonable basis for believing that they are supported by existing law or a modification or extension of existing law, that lawyer abuses her privilege to practice law,” Land writes. “When a lawyer uses the courts as a platform for a political agenda disconnected from any legitimate legal cause of action, that lawyer abuses her privilege to practice law. When a lawyer personally attacks opposing parties and disrespects the integrity of the judiciary, that lawyer abuses her privilege to practice law. When a lawyer recklessly accuses a judge of violating the judicial code of conduct with no supporting evidence beyond her dissatisfaction with the judge’s rulings, that lawyer abuses her privilege to practice law. When a lawyer abuses her privilege to practice law, that lawyer ceases to advance her cause or the ends of justice. . .
Regrettably, the conduct of counsel Orly Taitz has crossed these lines, and Ms. Taitz must be sanctioned for her misconduct. After a full review of the sanctionable conduct, counsel’s conduct leading up to that conduct, and counsel’s response to the Court’s show cause order, the Court finds that a monetary penalty of $20,000.00 shall be imposed upon counsel Orly Taitz as punishment for her misconduct, as a deterrent to prevent future misconduct, and to protect the integrity of the Court. Payment shall be made to the United States, through the Middle District of Georgia Clerk’s Office, within thirty days of today’s Order. If counsel fails to pay the sanction due, the U.S. Attorney will be authorized to commence collection proceedings.
I expect that Taitz will appeal the decision, given her past statements. The opinion goes into considerable detail on her conduct and interaction with the court, as shown below.
For the decision, click here.
For the story, click here
Of course if you knew my real name there is a ton of information that could be gathered just by your finger tips.
Why are all of your records sealed? What are you hiding?
That I’m no good and don’t want to embarrass myself. Isn’t that the reason people seal their records?
Bdaman,
Why are all of your records sealed? What are you hiding?
Bdaman said:
“I keep seeing Vattel brought up and Mario Apuzzo covered the translation of Vattel. Whats incorrect in his analysis.”
A lot. Starting with the fact that the founders read de Vattel in the original French – the term in question was ‘indegenes’ (sp?). The term ‘natural born citizen’ didn’t appear in an English translation until after the ratification of the Constitution.
Hi Mike, love you buddy. Doin o.k.? Hows the family. I see your back home in sunny Florida. Just starting to warm up here. You’ll be doin laps before you know it. Say hi to the wife and kids. Love you man.
I keep seeing Vattel brought up and Mario Apuzzo covered the translation of Vattel. Whats incorrect in his analysis.
http://puzo1.blogspot.com/2010/03/obama-maybe-citizen-of-united-states.html
I meant to type Bd, not Bs. Sorry about that, chief.
No problem
Good memory, Slart. I go back to Boston Garden in 1954-55
Vince that makes you older than dirt. 65-70 years old. Never would of thought that with the Enterprise as your avatar and your mind sharp as a tack. I have a new found respect for you sir. I thought you were a kid.
Here’s part of an interview with Miki Booth independent T party candidate for Oklahoma.
SHARON: How did you obtain the long-form birth certificates that you held up on February 6 at the Tea Party convention? Do you also have short forms derived from the originals? Anything called a “Certification of Live Birth”?
Miki: I met and married Fred in 1980 and Alan was born a year later. They were both born in Kapiolani Hospital 30 years apart. Their long-form certificates that were generated in the hospital are titled “Certification Of Live Birth.” That’s the same title that the short form has. They are both COLB’s, but the differences in content are quite striking. The more I and others investigate this cluster, the clearer it becomes that the Hawaii Department of Health and their Vital Statistics Office are quite inept. I can’t help wondering if it’s intentional, especially in light of discussions concerning COHBs. That stands for “Certificate of Hawaiian Birth,” and we also have one of those to present so folks will see what that’s about. This third Hawaiian birth certificate is Fred’s dad, who’s deceased, but had Hawaiian blood.
To answer your question: no, we don’t have any short-form certificates, and the only ones we’ve ever seen are for kids who were not born in Hawaii but their folks are Hawaii residents. So the short-form COLB only certifies that a live baby was born, but not necessarily in Hawaii.
I resent being labeled a “birther” which, according to some, means I don’t believe he was born in Hawaii. I’m not saying that because, really, who knows for sure? I’m saying if he’s going to claim he was born in Kapiolani like Fred and Alan, then we want to see proof. Just because he says so doesn’t mean it’s true. Why are all of his records sealed? He’s obviously hiding stuff. Come on.
It’s all falling apart,
I’m sorry your life is going so badly. I wish you the strength to pull it all together and suggest the medium of prayer for you, for self healing.
Who Gives a Rat’s Ass What You Think,
Pithy comment and no doubt the consensus opinion of those who know you.
“I believe that these trolls are paid to help spread this nonsense.”
Raff,
I’ve long suspected that and have stated such. Bdaman is an example. These new names that come and go could all be the same person given stylistic similarities. Certainly, the Goldwater Conservatives and John Birch Society members who established their campaign are still quite active and extremely well-funded. Like your site by the way and visit when I can.
Slart,
The greatest and really only Knick era was the Walt Frazier, Willis Reed era from ’68 to ’73. Those years produced some fun teams and I think Frazier was an all time great who doesn’t get his full due. Ewing might have been great, but who knows given the weak supporting cast he had. Now they are directionless clowns.
Vince,
I’m going to watch the show on your say so. Two of my favorite all time ballplayers, but to me Magic gets the nod because Larry didn’t have his speed. I think Magic was the equal of Michael Jordan but then to me so was Dr. J. I unfortunately go on and off on this off topic discussion.
EC,
In the first post on this thread I mentioned I felt that Orly would use this con as a steppingstone, though I admit I was thinking more along the lines of reality TV.
Like the name says.
It appears that the connection between Dr. James Ang’awa and Obama Sr. goes back even further. Dr. Ang’awa was a fellow member of the Luo tribe. He may have even been related to Obama Sr. Common relatives among tribal members are fairly common.
When Obama Sr. was expelled from school, his father sent him to Mombasa to work for an Asian friend. One of the women who provided financial assistance to Obama Sr. was Dr. Helen Roberts. Dr. Roberts founded the KWALE DISTRICT EYE CENTER in Mombasa. It is reported that Obama Sr. left the job with his father’s Asian friend and joined up with Tom Mboya, another Luo tribe member. Mboya founded the Kenya Local Government Workers’ Union, and after many of its leaders were jailed Mboya assumed the leadership of the Kenya Federation of Labour in 1953, and distinguished himself by mediating the Mombasa dock workers’ strike in 1955. Tom Mboya is one of those directly responsible for Obama Sr. having the opportunity to study in Hawaii.
If Obama Sr. returned to Mombasa during the summer of ’61, it is reasonable to consider that he could have returned to working for Tom Mboya. This would have permitted him to provide financial support for his new wife and son, and the wife and two children he left behind. Support that his scholarship would probably not have provided.
The very same people who provided Obama Sr’s transportation to Hawaii probably provided transportation home during the summer vacation. It would be kind of cruel to send students abroad for education and not provide them a means of visiting their family until they graduated. Wouldn’t it?
How close was the relationship between Obama Sr. and Tom Mboya? It was close enough that Obama referred to Mboya as his “godfather”.
Slarti and Mike S.,
You’ll always have 1970.
Buddha,
I’m glad you were able to get some enjoyment from basketball. Having grown up in East Lansing with parents who were both Michigan State grads (and a mother who was a big basketball fan), I remember the ’79 title game vividly. The images of Larry Bird with his face buried in a towel and Magic with joy just radiating off of him have always been icons of defeat and victory to me.
Mike S,
I became a Knicks fan while I was living in Manhattan (Ewing era) so I can understand some of your pain. I’ve been blessed with some truly great basketball teams to cheer for. (I do have the misfortune of being a Detroit Lions fan, so the sports karma is balanced…)
Vince,
I would have loved to have seen games in the old Boston Garden (I a big fan of storied sporting venues). And I would be rooting for the Pistons (then and now).
I’d comment on the propaganda conversation, but I’m finding it depressingly accurate right now. I will say that I like Buddha’s meme-virus analogy.
Mike S, Slartibart, VinceT, Buddha, CEJ and Empire,et all.
I commend you all on your patience in repeatedly educating our troll friend to the facts. The Big Lie as mentioned earlier is getting bigger by the day. I believe that these trolls are paid to help spread this nonsense.
A California lawyer who continues to shepherd several of the high-profile legal challenges to Barack Obama’s eligibility to be president says she’s ready and willing to investigate the issue herself – as California’s secretary of state.
Attorney Orly Taitz told WND today she is considering – and will decide very quickly because of a coming deadline – whether she should submit her own name as a candidate for the state office.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=126765
“It was when I discovered this ‘brain anomaly’ that I discovered he watches almost exclusively FAUXNews”
Buddha,
You make very good points and it is true many people I know, probably your father’s age do follow FOX. Even when I patiently explain to them the misinformation their eyes glaze over and my words have no effect. Then entire country has been the deliberate victim of a brainwashing campaign that began after Goldwater’s loss in 1964. It was well thought out and well-financed and had some of the best advertising and PR people doing the work. They’ve succeeded for the most part and we are reaping the whirlwind of collapsing democracy.
Vince & Slart,
That’s fine for you to say but I grew up with the Knicks in the 50’s and they were putrid.
Mike S,
Well said on all fronts.
EC and Mike S,
What’s even worse is many of those who misuse words like socialist, fascist and Marxist are people who should know better. It is somewhat of an embarrassment to me that my father seems particularly susceptible to propaganda. This despite being an educated man. He misuses socialism all the time. This is also despite being educated repeatedly by me as to the proper usage. It was when I discovered this ‘brain anomaly’ that I discovered he watches almost exclusively FAUXNews – a group of propagandistic hacks whose reputation needs little elaboration here. Is this mere coincidence? No. I think it’s direct albeit anecdotal evidence of the susceptibility of some to neurolinguistic programing.
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” – Joseph Goebbels
If one thinks this is mere paranoia, I submit an analogy. Memes are like a virus in how they spread. The base component of a virus are genes (either DNA or RNA). The base components of memes are words. If one changes the meaning of a word, one changes the meaning of a meme. This is usually accomplished by the Goebbels technique. Look at advertising. It’s one giant petrie dish of Goebbels theory in action. Propaganda is a type of verbal and visual mind control, just with different ends than advertising.
Demonization is but one possible outcome.
Slarti and Vince,
I don’t even like basketball and that was an entertaining film.
QUOTE
#720 Pants on fire 1, March 5, 2010 at 11:14 pm:
Did you know that Obama’s father and the doctor who delivered Obama Jr. in Kenya use to be neighbors?
What are the chances that the Dr. who delivered Barack Obama (as depicted by the LS CPGH BC) were neighbors? This Lucas Smith fellow must be a pretty sharp cookie. He not only chose the father of a Kenyan High Court Judge but he chose one that was Obama Sr.’s neighbor.
721 Pants on fire 1, March 5, 2010 at 11:35 pm:
“The family lived in high-class government quarters in Upper Hill. Among their neighbours were Dr Njoroge Mungai, former President Kenyatta’s personal physician, President Kibaki, who was then minister for Finance and the late Barack Obama Sr, father of American President Barack Obama.” UNQUOTE
This is a good example of the lack of reasoning by the birthers. What are the chances that the doctor who delivered Obama was a neighbor? The chances are zero, since the so-called certificate by convicted forger Lucas Smith is a forgery, so the forger could choose anyone he wanted as the delivering physician.
What are the chances that the forger took a name with a connection to Obama Sr. and put it on the fake? About 100%.
This is the type of nonsense the birthers wallow in. Obama Sr. may have lived near this guy at one time, but in 1961 he was a student in Hawaii. How did he get to Kenya with his wife, have the baby delivered, return to Hawaii at a time when there were no direct flights, take a baby past immigration, and make a phone call to the health department asking them to issue a birth certificate?
As I have said, it is more plausible that the rocket from Krypton landed on the Kent farm on Oahu with baby Kal-El.
There is no sign the Smith has even signed or sworn to the statements that he has made about the fake, because he may be at least shrewd enough to avoid a perjury charge. Pants, however, is on the money on one issue: Lucas “chose” the father of a Kenyan High Court Judge and a neighbor of Obama Sr. when he created his fake.
Dr. Conspiracy has the full story today:
http://www.obamaconspiracy.org/2010/03/baby-obama-delivered-by-neighbor/
And the Doc has a complete discussion of the Lucas Smith fake, with a lot of comments, at:
http://www.obamaconspiracy.org/2009/09/latest-filings-in-barnett-v-obama/
I will be watching to see if Pants has anything to say over there.
Good memory, Slart. I go back to Boston Garden in 1954-55, when the Celtics, with Cousy, Sharman and Easy Ed McCauley, played teams like the Syracuse Nats, the Rochester Royals, and the “Zollner Pistons” (I am not making this up).
Vince,
It’s a well-deserved break. I saw my first basketball game in 1979 in Jenison Fieldhouse at Michigan state (I was 10). Magic and Special K were amazing – I’ve never seen someone happier to be on the court than Magic, and I’ve seen a lot of hoops since…