Patterico's Pontifications

10/25/2014

Ron Coleman’s Motion to Dismiss Frivolous Lawsuit Brought by Convicted Bomber and Perjurer Brett Kimberlin Against Ace of Spades

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 5:53 pm



I don’t think I have mentioned the fact that my pro bono lawyers, Ron Coleman (from Likelihood of Confusion) and Bruce Godfrey of Jezic, Krum, and Moyse, LLC have taken on the defense of Ace of Spades in the frivolous and censorious lawsuit brought by convicted bomber and perjurer Brett Kimberlin.

Ron and Bruce have filed a brief on behalf of Ace, which is embedded below, courtesy of Hogewash.

ECF 212

It is Ron’s usual excellent work. Quotable:

Kimberlin, who has distinguished himself in life by inflicting so much emotional distress on an innocent human being that he killed himself to end the agony, nonetheless claims here that by discussing this, and related facts, on their blogs, defendants have committed a tort for which he is entitled to relief.

Of course, Kimberlin’s infliction of distress on Carl DeLong was accomplished, not by words on a blog, but by setting off a bomb that blew off a man’s leg.

Once again: kudos to Ron and Bruce for being stand-up guys. And to any prospective clients of theirs who might stumble across this post on Google: if these guys do this caliber of work for free, imagine what they’d do if you paid them! (That’s a joke, obviously; the thing that I admire most about Ron and Bruce is the way they work the same for me and Mandy and Ace as they would if we were paying them scads of money.)

UPDATE: Seen on Twitter:

39 Responses to “Ron Coleman’s Motion to Dismiss Frivolous Lawsuit Brought by Convicted Bomber and Perjurer Brett Kimberlin Against Ace of Spades”

  1. Good stuff. @liberaluniverse aka @BreitbartUnmask hardest hit.

    Patterico (9c670f)

  2. It’s lucky that Pix Misa (Ace’s system manager) is in Australia and out of reach of American court orders!

    Steven Den Beste (99cfa1)

  3. I like the form of pleading on behalf of a blog rather than an anonymous blogger. Well done!

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  4. i believe it’s Pixy Misha… they take care of the Jawas as well, iirc.

    redc1c4 (dab236)

  5. I saw a comment by Ace that he was embroiled in a lawsuit and wondered if it was the bomber at work. How does he avoid vexatious litigant status ? Moving around venues ?

    Mike K (90dfdc)

  6. It’s the same absurd RICO lawsuit that has been kicking around for over a year, in which Mandy and I are also named.

    Patterico (9c670f)

  7. UPDATE: Seen on Twitter:

    Patterico (9c670f)

  8. Coleman is a rock star as far as I’m concerned.

    Dustin (5f637a)

  9. Mike, I was waiting and waiting to see the next step in the process, and instead saw a huge delay. Totally predictable, I guess, but still surprised and annoyed me.

    I believe the lawfare is meant to drag on and the stress is meant to pile on. I shouldn’t speak for Mandy Nagy, the blogger who recently suffered a stroke, but I think this lawfare was a stressful burden for her that didn’t do her health any favors.

    Ace comes across as a strong mind, but I am sure the endless lawfare is no fun for any of the targets.

    Dustin (5f637a)

  10. “It’s the same absurd RICO lawsuit that has been kicking around for over a year, in which Mandy and I are also named.”

    Patterico – As I’m sure you are aware, most of the charges in a similar state lawsuit by Kimberlin against a smaller number of defendants were dismissed prior to trial and the remaining charges found baseless in a directed verdict by the judge against Kimberlin in favor of the defendants last month (August maybe?). Except for the attempt to add RICO charges and more defendants, the federal case is in many ways a mirror of the state case and should not survive judicial scrutiny, IMHO.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  11. There is little doubt the defendants will win the case, but that wasn’t the point. Kimberlin himself explained that in his comment here.

    The whole idea of his lawfare isn’t to win; his record is something like 2-109 or something, and I think the wins were FOIA cases, not lawfare. He wants to intimidate scrutiny by the defendants and especially by others, who may not want to go through all this time, money, stress, and effort to win a frivolous case.

    Until and unless he is labeled ‘vexatious’ and restricted from filings, that intimidation remains. Maybe the victorious defendants are safe from similar claims for a time, but no one else is, and that matters.

    Estragon (ada867)

  12. maybe hire this Ron Coleman too?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSMaI63H9hc

    steveg (794291)

  13. estragon is 100% correct.

    Dustin (5f637a)

  14. “There is little doubt the defendants will win the case, but that wasn’t the point.”

    estragon – I completely agree, but not all commenters here have been following the saga of the parallel cases in Kimberlin’s lawfare as evidenced by some of the comments, so adding background was my primary purpose.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  15. I think this is a reflection of the idea that for our government to work for our country there needs to be a certain quorum of people of virtue and principle living in it.
    We want to insure that people can have their fair day in court to address grievances. But access to the legal system can be used unscrupulously as well, with negative consequences for individuals and society.

    Some people apparently think simple virtues such as honesty are beside the point and political maneuvering and rulemaking to impose their will on others is the way to go, if not to get success in a better society, though that is what they claim, but to get power.

    And it is so pathetically simple. Appeal to people’s envy and lead them by the nose.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  16. ropelight #16 – actually, a baseball bat applied with currently-illegal force is over-kill (possibly literally) and is far too kind …

    A very simple concept is much more effective … if, when BreKim loses a case, he is required to pay *all* the successful defendant(s) provable documentable expenses for defending, after a comparatively short time, BreKim will find himself literally without the financial means to pursue any more of them … ideally, once BreKim has outstanding court orders requiring that he pay such costs, if he files another one, it should be reasonable for the Court to require that BreKim satisfy the prior orders before starting what can be expected (based upon BreKim’s existing documented track record) to be yet another frivolous case …

    It is a solution which works well in other countries, customarily called, pithily enough “Loser Pays” – in this specific situation “BreKim Pays” … appropriate enough, since BreKim’s own documented and evidenced conduct proves BreKim to *be* a loser … sadly, a malicious one …

    Of course, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America *hates* the concept with a passion … so much so that they changed their name in 2006 – “Sometimes called the American Trial Lawyers Association. Renaming itself in 2006 to be the American Association for Justice.” … so far, it is only a rumour that they are about to re-rename themselves to the “Justice League of America” (with all the DC connections that they currently have, being among the top few highest donors to the party currently controlling the Senate and the White House – ironic, ain’t it?)) …

    An interesting speculation lies in how many degrees of sub-rosa separation connect Eric Holder and Brett Kimberlin … with Fast & Furious at one end of current DOJ repertoire and Slow & Irritating (aka BreKim) at another end, perhaps ?

    Alastor (2e7f9f)

  17. On a completely different note, on page 19 of 20 of ECF 212, I suspect that the word “throway” is supposed to be “throwaway” …

    (Mainframe Computer Geekness will out !)

    Alastor (2e7f9f)

  18. You folks live in a police state, and yet act like you still live in a democracy or something. It’s funny watching you flail around.

    Your president is friends with a terrorist bomber. His middle name is Hussein. He’s out and out arming al Queda in the Middle East, making sure their Caliphate succeeds by defenestrating the US military.

    You think you can beat these people with mere words?

    You can’t.

    someguy (37038b)

  19. #17, Alastor, I don’t know how many degrees separate Holder from Kimberlin, but I suspect a trail of dirty Clinton money just might run from the likes of Sidney Blumenthal and David Brock directly into Kimberlin’s greedy back pocket. He’s just the sort of vicious, low-brow, boot licking guttersnipe Bill and Hill have always found useful. Birds of a feather, don’t ya know?

    ropelight (f3cf08)

  20. Alastor (2e7f9f) — 10/26/2014 @ 8:59 am

    I believe that Brett Kimberlin already owes Mrs. DeLong 1.6 million dollars. His parole was revoked because of failure to pay. What makes you think he’d pay legal fees?

    Tanny O'Haley (066e8f)

  21. Tanny O’Haley #21 – it will take legislation to pass “Loser Pays” in this country … and, hopefully, the legislation will include clauses to ensure that, after some number of occurrences of filing a frivolous lawsuit and losing, if the frivolous lawsuit filer doesn’t pay defendant(s) costs, that frivolous lawsuit filer, by their own lack of compliance, forfeits the ability to file any more lawsuits until the back Court-ordered payments of defendant(s) costs have been satisfied …

    It doesn’t get Mrs DeLong what she is owed – but it prevents a bunch of further Carl DeLongs from happening …

    Alastor (2e7f9f)

  22. I imagine this has been covered before, about why/how Mrs. DeLong isn’t getting what she is owed.

    Here is an idea for some turn-about is fair play,
    a new republican congress passes a law that makes Kimberlin pay or face coercive penalties like the IRS puts on people. I imagine there may be some principle that Congress can not make a law in regards to one specific person, so it would have to be something like the “terrorist bomber reparations act”,
    and then dare president Obama not to sign it.

    At least it would be a direct, in the light of day, in front of everyone, “let’s get real justice” maneuver, and not hide behind bureaucracies and John Doe probe laws.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  23. Alastor: “Throway” is how we spell “throwaway” here in Piscataway.

    Ron Coleman (6e480d)

  24. Ron – What exit is Piscataway? 🙂

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  25. Daleyrocks — Toinpike or Godden State?

    Ron Coleman (6e480d)

  26. Double Heh.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  27. How come nobody has filed a SLAPP motion against Kimberlin ? Not only can a SLAPP motion get rid of a case at the outset, the defendant gets his/ her attorney fees for filing the motion.

    Irving Washington (9f22ba)

  28. Irving,

    Tell me about Maryland law on this issue. Don’t spare the details or case law.

    Patterico (9c670f)

  29. Crickets?

    felipe (40f0f0)

  30. felipe,

    It’s a nice thought, but (as phrased) it comes across like a criticism rather than a suggestion. Which makes me respond in a challenging way — like: you think we haven’t thought about this?

    Patterico (9c670f)

  31. People may think that California’s anti-SLAPP statute, which is pretty impressive, is the law everywhere. It’s not. Not all states have it and not all are like California’s. Illinois’s is not. I don’t know Maryland’s but I presume Mr. Coleman does. And not all federal courts accept it as substantive, as opposed to procedural, allowing it to be raised in a suit brought in federal court.

    nk (dbc370)

  32. Agree, nk. When I was a law clerk, I told my judge it was substantive, and I believe that view (then somewhat disputed, I believe) is now the prevailing view in the 9th Circus. It is not so everywhere, though, I don’t think.

    Patterico (9c670f)

  33. A brief glance on Al Gore’s internets shows that the First Circuit held Massachusetts’s to be procedural, and four DC district judges have found DC’s substantive to date. I did not see anything from the Fourth Circuit (Maryland).

    nk (dbc370)

  34. Here is everything I know about Maryland law:

    Done.

    Actually, that’s not completely true. I know that Maryland does have an anti-SLAPP statute
    (http://www.anti-slapp.org/your-states-free-speech-protection/) but, no, I don’t know the particulars. I also did a little digging in response to your question and it appears that the federal courts do not have an anti-SLAPP statute and are not uniform in allowing defendants to file an ant-SLAPP motion — the ninth circuit allows it, but others do not on the grounds that the anti-SLAPP Motion is procedural, not substantive.

    So in answer to something one of your readers mentioned earlier — there IS something congress can do about Kimberlin — they can pass a federal anti-SLAPP statute and get rid of his frivolous lawsuits once and for all.

    Irving Washington (9f22ba)

  35. Then the Chinese would not be able to threaten music teachers with “product disparagement” lawsuits for saying their brass instruments are junk, Irving. (True story.) There is a whole array of lobbies against anti-SLAPP statutes, exercising their First Amendment right peacefully to petition their government with substantial campaign donations.

    nk (dbc370)

  36. RICO is a nightmare for a plaintiff like this – a guy who’s a walking justification for specific pleading requirements. Here’s hoping the judge gives his allegations the death of a thousand cuts they deserve. I’ve been involved on both sides of civil RICO cases and on balance, I think the courts’ increasing skepticism about their misuse and overreach is the right approach. I’d prefer to see Congress clean this stuff up and tighten its focus rather than having the courts reverse engineer a remedy, but these statutes are another example, like “three strikes” and the Patriot Act, of laws supported and passed for one purpose that end up being misused in ways that we wouldn’t support.

    SocietyIs2Blame (5e7640)

  37. 24, Daley, When I used to work for Sperry, piscataway was our gulag for bad programmers who needed punishing.

    PCD (39058b)

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    Hermes Belt Sale (80aa18)

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