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No Justice from Justice

From ATG Archives on Judicial Corruption

ATG located the following article after receiving an article from one of our researchers, D.Tom. [See dt173.htm]. It certainly ties in with the present behavior of the judge in the Western District of NC. It is reprinted as received. Reports on the courts of today prove that many judges feel they are the law makers, above the law. ATG receives articles weekly on just such events.

Over 2.2 million are now incarcerated in what has become a major "business" and money making scheme, utilizing what amounts to slave labor in each state. South Carolina is listed as number one in the nation in incarcerations and prison building. [information just received from an AP report states that as of mid 2004 highest rates of incarceration occurred in Louisiana and Georgia]. Investigations show several very large corporations are in charge of management of all facets of these institutions, with taxpayer dollars being dispensed with no accountability for same. Judges/Courts/States also receive benefits from every case involving an incarceration.

ATG: The following article appeared in a February, 2003 issue of the Mountain Guardian published in the Asheville, North Carolina area.

Thornburg M.G. - February 03 - Let's take a look at Due Process Law

If you have been following Clint Parker's series in the Asheville Tribune about Marine hero Terry Stewart, you'll know where I'm going with this. Stewart, with enough honors, combat medals awards to cover his chest and then some, got involved with a guy the feds had their eye on. Stewart ended up in federal court in front of Judge Lacy Thornburg who put him prison without sentencing him. Stewart's done two years so far without being sentenced. And here's the bugaboo: he can't appeal until he's been sentenced. I'm not attempting to make a case for innocence or guilt; I'm making a case for due process.

Thornburg has taken a oath to uphold the Constitution, so let's see how he does protecting its due process clauses. Back in March 1999, I wrote an article for the Mountain Xpress telling you about how Thornburg had denied Richard Suhre's right of Due Process. Suhre was an atheist who was suing to get the Ten Commandments taken out of the courtroom in Haywood County. He was an elderly gentleman in poor health. Thornburg threw out Suhre's case. Suhre appealed and Thornburg was over-ruled. Thornburg again dismissed Suhre's case, this time on other grounds. Again, Suhre appealed and Thornburg was over-ruled. Appeals take time, and time was running out for Suhre. It finally went to trial and Suhre had the highest church officials testifying on his behalf. The outcome of the trial was in limbo for eight months until Thornburg finally made his ruling that the Ten Commandments would stay put. Eight months! Six months is considered max, if necessary. Suhre appealed yet again, but passed away before it could heard. It's not about the Ten Commandments; it's about Due Process.

I knew of a recent widow who was involved in a civil case in Thornburg's court several years ago. Her son was representing her. He told me that Thornburg threatened to fix it so that he, the lawyer son, would never practice law in a federal court again if he filed any more papers on behalf of his mother. As a result, she was darn near ruined financially. Her son saw the handwriting on the wall, moved and set up practice in a different federal circuit.

I've heard of other attorneys who claim to have been similarly threatened. One attorney told me that he would be committing professional suicide if he asked Thornburg to recuse himself from a particular case. Why is it that so many attorneys will not take a client if it means appearing before Thornburg?

Thornburg was NC Attorney General 1985-1992. Before that, he was a Superior Court judge. During that time, the appellate court over-ruled or reversed him at least 77 times, averaging approximately 4.27 reversals per year. That's double the number of reversals for the next highest among the judges he went through the federal confirmation process with. It's a good way we can rate a judge by how many mistakes they make.

Looking at some of these mistakes, I see: "evidence was not sufficient to support submission of death penalty", death sentence disproportionate under N.C. law", "insufficient evidence to support finding of guilt", failure to instruct on whether officers entry into defendants motel was illegal", "suspension of attorney from practice of law held improper without adequate notice of possible disciplinary action", "requiring answer to written interrogatories that amounted to self incrimination". One reversal came about because Thornburg went to trial without an attorney for the indigent defendant, nor was there a waiver. And the did the same thing a year later to a different defendant. That also was reversed. He threw out a case about a drowning in a club, saying that there was insufficient evidence of negligence. As I recall, the lifeguard was underage and/or didn't have the proper certificate, and the water in the pool was so cloudy that you couldn't see the bottom. The appellate court over-ruled that one too.

So many reversals that we know of, but how many more folks were too broke or too worn down to appeal Thornburg's bad rulings? He was given his lifetime federal judgeship by President Clinton for whom he had been state campaign co-chair.

Due Process is a very big deal under our Constitution. It means a fair hearing, a fair trial in a timely manner. The Fifth Amendment protects us from abuses by the federal government. The Fourteenth protects us from the state. Without Due Process, all other Amendments are meaningless. Maybe that's one reason the NRA enjoys such a huge membership.