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Oscar Stilley 2023-09-07 Update
Greetings all:
I recently sent all of you an email with links to the appeal briefs in 10th Circuit 22-5113. The latest email also included a link to a motion for release pending appeal.
The government didn’t file a response within the 14 days allowed by the rules. I sent an email to Elissa Hart-Mahan and Katie Bagley, two lawyers who ordinarily communicate with me on this matter. I asked them if the failure to respond was intentional. They’re usually very prompt and responsive. Neither of them responded to this email.
I sent another email the next day, to all the lawyers on the case including Clinton J. Johnson, US Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma, who is “of counsel” on the case. I got the following response:
Mr. Stilley, your motion accurately reflects that the government opposes your requested relief. Nothing more need be said.
That terse message came from Bob Lyons, Chief, Criminal Appeals &
Tax Enforcement Policy Section, Tax Division, U.S. Justice Department, in Washington, DC. In other words, he’s the “big shot,” the man in charge of the litigation.
There are no words in the English language that will justify their continued punishment of me. None! The best of their artful dodging won’t work this time. That’s why they won’t respond in writing.
I’d bet money that Bob Lyons told his underlings to clam up, to refuse to talk. I don’t think they made that decision on their own.
Read between the lines. The 4 participating DOJ lawyers plus Clinton Johnson (of counsel) cannot refute what I have to say, factually or legally, yet they think they will win. That’s potent. Most of the time, when they “think” something, it is more than unsupported speculation.
Analyze what you would do if you thought you were going to lose. Ethical liabilities loom large. Reputations are at stake. Would you not try to “make nice” and pretend you were operating in good faith the whole time, and just now “saw the light?”
They think someone’s going to pull their chestnuts out of the fire, even when they can’t prevail on the basis of reasoned argument. That’s my take.
Oscar Stilley to his short list
Saudi Sentenced to Death for Tweets Criticizing Government
Muhammad al-Ghamdi, a 54-year-old retired Saudi teacher, was sentenced “following 5 tweets criticizing corruption and human rights violations,” his brother Saeed bin Nasser al-Ghamdi tweeted last week.
https://reason.com/volokh/2023/09/03/saudi-sentenced-to-death-for-tweets-criticizing-government/
Google Cares About Google’s Privacy
The other strategy Google seems to pursue as policy is to do as much as possible to block information from coming out of the courtroom. Many pre-trial hearings involved Google trying to stop exhibits or evidence from becoming public, or trying to keep as much under seal as possible. But now, the firm seeks to restrict public access to the trial itself, in the form of opposing a Zoom feed or audio feed that normal people outside of D.C. can listen to.
https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/quick-read-google-cares-about-googles
This Texas town has about 250 people.
It has 50 sworn police officers.
But there is more to this story than a small town writing a bunch of speeding tickets. KHOU 11 Investigates (https://www.khou.com/investigations) discovered Coffee City is a magnet for troubled cops. More than half of the department’s 50 officers had been suspended, demoted, terminated or dishonorably discharged from their previous law enforcement jobs, according to personnel files obtained through open records requests to other law enforcement agencies.
https://www.khou.com/article/news/investigations/coffee-city-texas-police-officers/285-4220e73c-90d4-474e-b59e-2033270cd8e9
Payday Lenders Gave Millions to Republican Group That Backed Supreme Court Suit to Annihilate CFPB
Despite widespread approval among Republican voters to regulate or prohibit payday lending, Republican officials in more than 20 states are backing industry groups in the suit. All but two of the 28 members of the Republican Attorneys General Association, or RAGA, sought to intervene in the case. The move came after payday lending and banking industry groups regulated and fined by the CFPB poured out millions of dollars in campaign contributions, according to an analysis of the donations set to be published Wednesday by the watchdog group Accountable.US.
https://theintercept.com/2023/08/30/payday-lenders-supreme-court-cfpb-republicans/
Anti-Vaxxer’s Lawsuit Over Channel Removal Fails
Mercola v. YouTube
With respect to accessing the content, the court says: “no provision of the Agreement provides a right to access that content under the circumstances here: termination for cause under the agreement. In a different context, there is an avenue to export content: if YouTube terminates a user’s access for service changes.” Cites to Lewis v. YouTube (https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericgoldman/2015/12/30/youtube-wins-another-case-over-removing-and-relocating-user-videos/), King v. Facebook.
https://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2023/09/anti-vaxxers-lawsuit-over-channel-removal-fails-mercola-v-youtube.htm
Blount County, Tennessee District Attorney blocked from enforcing anti-drag law
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A federal judge has blocked an East Tennessee district attorney from enforcing a state law restricting public drag performances after he sent a letter to Blount Pride organizers warning they could be prosecuted (https://www.wate.com/news/blount-county-news/da-warns-group-against-violating-anti-drag-law-ruled-unconstitutional/) if they violate the law.
U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer granted a temporary restraining order against Blount County District Attorney Ryan Desmond from enforcing the Adult Entertainment Act (AEA), a state law that bans ‘adult cabaret entertainment’ on public property or where children could see which was ruled unconstitutional by a federal district judge in West Tennessee in June. (https://www.wate.com/news/tennessee/tennessee-law-restricting-drag-performances-ruled-unconstitutional-by-federal-judge/)
Kraft Heinz Sued Over MiO Malic Acid
The complaint sought to certify a class of consumers from Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, as well as a separate class for plaintiffs in Florida. Adams claimed all of the plaintiffs would not have paid the full price of the MiO products had they known the product contained malic acid. The Kraft Heinz Co. originally sought to dismiss the proposed class action and argued that Adams had not sufficiently shown that malic acid is an artificial flavor. However, the motion to dismiss was denied.
https://www.natlawreview.com/article/kraft-heinz-agrees-to-settle-suit-over-malic-acid-flavoring
New York District Court Approves Class Action in FDCPA Case Alleging Improper Debt Assignment Notification
Both the magistrate and district judges found that the plaintiff had standing because the defendants allegedly deprived the plaintiff of more than $500 for several months by enforcing a default judgment in a manner that allegedly violated the FDCPA and state law. Further, the plaintiff alleged that the defendants still claim that they have a right to enforce that judgment if they so choose. The district court judge also agreed that the proposed class satisfied the requirements for class certification.
https://www.insidearm.com/news/00049354-new-york-district-court-approves-class-ac/
Undercover Feds Shot and Paralyzed Unhoused Man in Wheelchair
According to Brooks Roberts’s wrongful shooting claim, officers opened fire when they saw he had a gun — but he thought his brother was being robbed.
In late August, Brooks and his attorneys filed a claim (https://homelesslaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Roberts-NOTC-embargo-fin-1.pdf) against numerous government agencies seeking $50 million in monetary damages for “extreme suffering” caused by the shooting. According to the claim, Forest Service officers, in conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management, shot Brooks “needlessly and recklessly” on May 19: through his arm and back shoulder, in his armpit and the bottom of his spine, through the middle of his back, and several times in his legs. The officers opened fire when they saw Brooks was carrying a gun — but they were wearing civilian clothing and had not identified themselves as police, according to the complaint.
https://theintercept.com/2023/09/06/homelessness-family-shooting-forest-service-boise/
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