Are we going to let the GOP thugs intimidate our side?
Let's Show America the Evidence!
Let's fill the Wheelbarrow for the Fraud-buster Four!
Election 2004 is NOT over for Robert Fitrakis, Susan Truitt, Cliff Arnebeck, Peter Peckarsky, or anyone who cares about fair elections. On Election Day, these four attorneys, also known as the Fair Elections Counsel, were in the forefront of the broad-based effort to expose the many voting "irregularities" found in Ohio. Today, they themselves are facing the possibility of unfair sanctions and fines, and the chilling of their First Amendment rights.
On January 18, Republican Attorney General Jim Petro asked the Ohio Supreme Court to sanction and fine the four attorneys in the Moss v. Bush lawsuit they filed. Two days later, he did the same for their other lawsuit, Moss v. Moyer. His charge? That the four had filed "frivolous" lawsuits which lacked evidence of any voting problems in Ohio.
The four attorneys, in turn, allege that the Attorney General and Kenneth Blackwell, who doubled as Ohio Secretary of State and Ohio Co-Chair of the Bush-Cheney Re-election Campaign, led the state's efforts to restrict document access and prevent testimony by election officials. Rep. John Conyers has sent a strong letter expressing concerns to Attorney General Petro, and groups all around the country are mobilizing to stop this GOP counter-attack on those who would question this tainted 2004 election.
The four attorneys have promised to bring "a wheelbarrow full of evidence" about voting irregularities to court, but they need our help to make that happen. They need $28,000 by February 4 to pay for attorneys, expert witnesses, photocopying, communications, travel, research, and exhibit development fees. (Go to http://freepress.org/store.php#donate and give to the Ohio Sanctions Defense Fund)
Case Background
Citing fraud, error, or mistake, 37 people who voted for president in the November 2 election challenged the election results with the Ohio Supreme Court in Moss v. Bush. The voters referred to irregularities including long lines, a shortage of voting machines in minority precincts and problems with computer equipment. As in any lawsuit of this kind, the four attorneys subpoenaed Secretary of State Blackwell, President Bush (who met with Blackwell the day of the election in a private meeting in Columbus, Ohio), and other state and federal officials in an effort to get supporting information. Blackwell, in turn, requested a protective order to prevent him from being interviewed, and Attorney General Petro's lawyers argued that no state officials should be required to comply with the subpoenas.
After the subpoenaed officials refused to testify, and after the Electoral College certified the Ohio vote on January 6, the four attorneys withdrew their two legal actions. New proceedings based on civil rights violations that unjustly deprived African Americans and students of the right to vote on November 2 are a strong possibility. Some of the claims might involve the well-publicized shortages of voting machines.
Ironically, by opening up these sanction proceedings and alleging that the four attorneys filed "frivolous" cases with insufficient evidence, the way has now been cleared for them to bring in a wheelbarrow of evidence that otherwise might have been excluded from the Court record. For details on the case, see http://www.votecobb.org/newsclips/2005/jan/news2005-01-19.php
Current Status
The four attorneys will file an Opposition to a Motion for Sanctions in the Moss v. Bush case on Friday, January 28, and their Opposition to the Moss v. Moyer case is due Monday, January 31. To prepare their response, the four attorneys and their supporters are collecting thousands of pages of documents and making the numerous copies of each that are required by the Court. The case then will be heard, as required by Ohio law, by Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer.
Ironically, Moyer himself was just re-elected in a bitterly contested election. The four attorneys raised challenges about that election in the Moss v. Moyer case. While this might seem like an obvious conflict of interest situation, Chief Justice Moyer has refused to recuse himself.
First Amendment Issues
The four attorneys collectively and individually conducted research, organized coalitions, and spoke out publicly about the alleged fraud, and some wrote articles about it. Fitrakis also is the publisher of the Columbus (Ohio) Free Press, which is a leading Internet and print repository for primary resource documents and analysis. Therefore, aside from the effect this sanctions action might have on Free Speech, it also could be seen as an indirect attack on the Freedom of the Press.
Selective Prosecution?
Another irony is that the Ohio media has reported that Secretary Blackwell sent out a fundraising letter soliciting contributions from corporate donors for his Gubernatorial exploratory committee, which is illegal under Ohio law, yet Mr. Petro's office has yet to indict Blackwell. Mr. Blackwell says the letter was "a mistake" and has pledged to send back any corporate contributions, but he has not retracted a statement he made in the letter claiming credit for "delivering" Ohio's electoral votes to Mr. Bush.
Help Needed
Attorney General Petro's request for sanctions and fines are raising suspicions that revenge and an attempt to chill our Constitutional right to voice our dissent are the reason for this attack on attorneys Robert Fitrakis, Susan Truitt, Cliff Arnebeck and Peter Peckarsky. To determine whether this is a selective prosecution, Rep. John Conyers has written a letter to Petro asking for information about the other sanctions requests that Petro has filed recently (http://www.votecobb.org/newsclips/2005/jan/news2005-01-20.php). Meanwhile, support committees are rising up around the country to assist these brave attorneys.
Donate, pass the word on via email, ask people to submit affidavits, and send organizational letters of support so that future election protectors will be free of this harassment and intimidation.
Let's help defend the Fraud-buster Four!
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Donations to the Columbus Institute for Contemporary Journalism are tax deductible. Go to http://freepress.org/store.php#donate and give to the Ohio Sanctions Defense Fund. If you prefer, you can make out a check to CICJ or the "Columbus Institute for Contemporary Journalism" and send it to:
The Free Press
1240 Bryden Road
Columbus, Ohio 43205