Will Rick Perry Be Targeted for a Federal Prosecution?

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Monday August 22, 2011 · 10:31 AM PDT

2011/08/22 · 10:31

Hundreds of Rick Perry's biggest financial backers have benefited from actions he took in his official capacity as governor of Texas, according to a new article in The New York Times. Does that mean Perry, now a leading Republican candidate for president, will be targeted by federal prosecutors on bribery and fraud charges?

If the case of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman establishes legal precedent, the answer is yes.

RogerShuler

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Thursday August 18, 2011 · 9:48 AM PDT

2011/08/18 · 09:48

Cross Posted at Legal Schnauzer

Political news has been dominated in recent months by debate about a "debt crisis" in the United States. Two leading newspapers now say the solution to our debt issues is apparent and relatively simple. But do the American people, and our leaders, have the will to see it through?

The answer, says the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in an editorial dated August 10, is a single-payer health system. The Charleston Gazette, in the capital city of West Virginia, followed up with a similar editorial on August 16.

If the editorial boards of two newspapers get it, why can't we say the same for leaders of our two political parties? The Post-Dispatch hints at the answer to that question:

If America truly is serious about dealing with its deficit problems, there's a fairly simple solution. But you're probably not going to like it: Enact a single-payer health care plan. See, we told you that you weren't going to like it.

RogerShuler

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Wednesday August 17, 2011 · 9:45 AM PDT

2011/08/17 · 09:45

Cross Posted at Legal Schnauzer

An Alabama lawyer was embroiled in his own contentious divorce case at the time he was murdered three weeks ago.

Robert Blake Lazenby, in fact, was involved in several hot-button legal cases when he died from multiple gunshot wounds. Did one of those cases contribute to his death? A review of public documents indicates the answer probably is yes.

The divorce case jumps out because records hint that at least two state judges were ruling in a biased fashion, favoring a lawyer over his wife--and multiple other lawyers had to know about it. That raises this question: Did our state's corrupt legal cartel finally push the wrong person too far, leading to the violent death of a party in a lawsuit? We would not be surprised if the answer is yes.

If our guess is on target, which case might have sparked deadly emotions? That remains unclear, but this much seems clear: Someone was very unhappy with Blake Lazenby--and Lazenby's life was not nearly as tidy as his legal colleagues would have you believe.

RogerShuler

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Tuesday August 16, 2011 · 5:35 PM PDT

2011/08/16 · 17:35

Cross Posted at Legal Schnauzer

Federal prosecutors apparently intend to retry the Alabama bingo case, even though a juror in the first trial said the panel voted overwhelmingly to acquit across the board.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson yesterday set the second trial for October 3. Prosecutors are proposing three separate trials this time, even though they opposed defense requests for separate trials earlier. The first trial ended last week with full acquittals for two defendants and a mix of not guilty and no decision for the other seven defendants.

What to make of all this? A leading legal commentator says GOP felon Jack Abramoff maintains an ugly grip on Alabama politics. And in a twisted piece of irony, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) seems to be supporting Abramoff-style skulduggery.

RogerShuler

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Monday August 15, 2011 · 10:29 AM PDT

2011/08/15 · 10:29

Cross Posted at Legal Schnauzer

The outcome of the federal Alabama bingo trial, which produced zero convictions for nine defendants and 37 counts, has been described as "one of the most remarkable setbacks nationally" for federal prosecutors in decades. It also has been described as a "humiliation of epic proportions" for the Obama Justice Department and its Bush DOJ holdovers.

In a narrower sense, the bingo verdict provides proof that the Don Siegelman case, perhaps the most notorious political prosecution in American history, was unlawfully decided. It also provides proof that at least one other Bush-era political prosecution, that of Mississippi attorney Paul Minor, was unlawfully decided.

RogerShuler

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Friday August 12, 2011 · 10:42 AM PDT

2011/08/12 · 10:42

Cross Posted at Legal Schnauzer

The era of political prosecutions more or less started in Alabama with the Don Siegelman case during the George W. Bush years. Perhaps it ended here yesterday, in the Obama years, when a federal jury in Montgomery rendered no convictions in an electronic bingo/vote buying trial.

Jurors deadlocked on some charges and found not guilty on all others. That's nine defendants, 37 counts, and zero convictions, for those of you keeping score at home. It was as if the jury sent the U.S. Justice Department this resounding message: "Take your bogus political prosecutions and jam them up your . . . " Well, you get the idea.

RogerShuler

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Wednesday August 10, 2011 · 9:57 AM PDT

2011/08/10 · 09:57

Cross Posted at Legal Schnauzer

A development company, with a CEO who has extensive personal and professional baggage, is planning a new project at Auburn University. The company already has close to 30 student-housing developments across the country.

Campus Crest Communities, of Charlotte, North Carolina, has announced that it plans to build a 216-unit student-housing complex adjacent to Greek housing at Auburn. The $26.3 million project is expected to be ready for the 2012-13 academic year.

Campus Crest is led by Ted Rollins, who has been the subject of several posts here at Legal Schnauzer--and he will be the subject of quite a few more. Ted Rollins has significant financial clout; he belongs to the Atlanta-based Rollins clan, the folks behind Orkin Pest Control and one of the nation's wealthiest families. Campus Crest Communities is Rollins' latest venture, and it completed a $380-million IPO on Wall Street last year.

Public documents, however, indicate that Ted Rollins has a troubling history of using abusive legal tactics and questionable business practices.

RogerShuler

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Tuesday August 09, 2011 · 8:09 AM PDT

2011/08/09 · 08:09

Cross Posted at Legal Schnauzer

Why has Barack Obama been such a disappointment to many progressives? More importantly, why has he failed the country in a time of crisis?

It's largely because Obama does not understand how bullies operate, according to a prominent political psychologist. Obama has a poor grasp of "bully dynamics," says Drew Westen, professor of psychology at Emory University and author of The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation.

Westen presents numerous insights in a recent op-ed piece for The New York Times. It's titled "What Happened to Obama?" and it should be required reading for the many Americans who voted for Obama and are watching him shrink before our eyes.

RogerShuler

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Monday August 08, 2011 · 9:23 AM PDT

2011/08/08 · 09:23

Cross Posted at Legal Schnauzer

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
-- Abraham Lincoln

"Honest Abe" was smart about a lot of things. And he certainly was on target about the threats that pose a real danger to America's future.

Many citizens, it seems, are preoccupied with thoughts of an al Qaeda attack or hordes of illegal immigrants coming over our border with Mexico. But signs abound that America actually is rotting from the inside. We see them on the national stage; we see them close to home, here in Alabama.

The most obvious signal, in a broad sense, came with the recent debt-ceiling debate. An issue that historically has been handled as somewhat of a formality became shrouded in ugliness, pettiness, and almost paralyzing dysfunction.

Another signal has been coming from Montgomery, Alabama, home of a federal electronic-bingo trial that clearly is tainted and might be a flat-out sham. The case went to the jury over the weekend, and a verdict could come at any moment.

RogerShuler

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Thursday August 04, 2011 · 9:19 AM PDT

2011/08/04 · 09:19

Cross Posted at Legal Schnauzer

Receiving judicial orders in the mail is one of life's most distasteful experiences. Judicial orders tend to be less-than-compelling reading. And they almost always are the intellectual equivalent of horse excrement--emitting a foul odor while having nothing to do with the actual facts and law at hand. At least that has been my experience.

So I could not help but appreciate one judge's efforts to spice up his orders by adding some country humor that seems right out of Hee Haw.

RogerShuler

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Wednesday August 03, 2011 · 9:47 AM PDT

2011/08/03 · 09:47

Cross Posted at Legal Schnauzer

A Kentucky convenience store has seen a downturn in business after rumors spread on social networks that it refused to serve U.S. military personnel. The owner of the Sak-N-Pak store in Corbin, Kentucky, is from India.

Did racism and misguided patriotism, fueled by the Web, bring harm to a business? Sure looks that way. How to deal with such a problem? We would suggest a lawsuit.

RogerShuler

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday August 02, 2011 · 7:43 PM PDT

2011/08/02 · 19:43

Cross Posted at Legal Schnauzer

A state bar association has suspended the license of a lawyer for making truthful statements in court filings.

That sounds like a headline from The Onion. But as we reported in a previous post, it is true. And now we have a document from the Alabama State Bar to prove it.

Angela Turner Drees is fighting to get her law license reinstated, but for now it is suspended for one year. In what "misconduct" did Drees engage? She told the truth about the actions of another lawyer, and in the legal profession, that apparently can get you in trouble.

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Will Rick Perry Be Targeted for a Federal Prosecution?

A Single-Payer Health System Is the Answer to Our Debt Woes

Why Did Someone Gun Down This Lawyer?

Obama DOJ Wants a Second Dose of Humiliation in Bingo Trial

Verdict in Federal Bingo Trial Shines New Light on the Don Siegelman Case

Bingo Jury Gives Obama Justice Department a Kick in the Crotch

A Bad-News Developer Is Invading College Communities

Obama Fails to Battle Back Against Bullies

Is Our Country Rotting From the Inside Out?

One Judge Livens Up the Bench With Corn-Pone Comedy

A Business Suffers From Racism and Anti-Military Rumors

Telling the Truth Costs A Lawyer Her License