Ohio Supreme Court Won't Sanction Lawyers(election challengers)

[Algorem]

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/national/index.ssf?/base/national-44/1116516609274380.xml&storylist=national

Thursday, May 19, 2005



Ending one of the last fights from the contentious 2004 presidential campaign, the Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday declined to punish four attorneys who had challenged the results in court.


Chief Justice Thomas Moyer ruled against Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro's attempt to have the lawyers sanctioned for filing "a meritless claim" against the vote that gave President Bush a win in Ohio and, as a result, enough electoral votes to win a second term in the White House.


In legal documents filed with the state Supreme Court, the lawyers had said the challenge they filed on behalf of 37 voters included enough evidence of voting irregularities to back up their allegations of widespread fraud. They later withdrew the claim.


Petro, a Republican, asked for sanctions against lawyers Cliff Arnebeck, Robert Fitrakis, Susan Truitt and Peter Peckarsky. If the court had sanctioned the lawyers, they could have been forced to repay attorney's fees and court costs...

[annabanana]

1. well . . . . that's something, I guess..

...

[Coastie for Truth]

2. Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro

is the one who should be sanctioned, punished, and disbarred for filing a "SLAPP" - Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Policy.

In some blue states Petro's action would have been a disciplinary (sanctions and disbarment) offense.

[LightningFlash]

23. I'm guessing that's in the works...

Clifford Arnebeck no longer on the defense, appears to be on the offensive taking the lawsuits before the Circuit Court.

[meganmonkey]

3. I'm glad to hear it

Small victories are better than none at all...

[garybeck]

4. this is good news! but I might add

contrary to the article, this is NOT "one of the last fights from the contentious 2004 presidential campaign" !!!!!

we have just begun to fight!

Onward!

[merh]

6. Federal Court transferred the Kerry/Edwards lawsuit

(docketed/filed 05/10/05) Document 58:
ORDER transferring case to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio for joinder with Rios v. Blackwell, C3-04-7724. All pending matters in the Southern District of Ohio are rendered moot. Signed by Judge Edmund A Sargus on 05/09/2005. (dh)

https://pacer.login.uscourts.gov


Litigation is on going.

[Columbus]

10. OhioHonestElections.org

The decision is also posted on Cliff Arnebeck's website at www.OhioHonestElections.org

Send Cliff a thanks.

[emlev]

8. Hear, hear!

I had the same reaction.

[eomer]

5. It's good news and bad

Good news for these champions of truth and democracy that they are not going to be sanctioned.

Bad news because it might have been a venue to subpoena records and otherwise build a record that would be useful in the larger struggle.

On balance I wouldn't want to see these lawyers put further through the ringer so I'll join in the celebration but with just a bit of wondering about what might have been.

[demodonkey]

7. They got a TON of stuff into the Court Record, they did!

Whoo Hoo for the Fraud-Buster Four -- God bless you guys if you see this!

:woohoo: :yourock: :woohoo: :yourock:

--------------------------------------

February 3, 2005, The Free Press (Columbus, Ohio)
By Steve Rosenfeld and Harvey Wasserman

Excerpt from the article:
Stiff legal sanctions sought by Ohio's Republican Attorney General James Petro against four attorneys who have questioned the results of the 2004 presidential balloting here has produced an unintended consequence — a massive counter-filing that has put on the official record a mountain of contentions by those who argue that election was stolen.

Among the documents now made part of Ohio's legal archives is a congressional investigation report from Rep. John Conyers that seriously questions the November 2 outcome.

In filings that include well over 1,000 pages of critical documentation, attorneys Robert Fitrakis, Susan Truitt, Peter Peckarsky and Cliff Arnebeck have counter-attacked. Their defense motions include renewed assertions that widespread irregularities threw the true outcome of the November vote count into serious doubt. That assertion has now been lent important backing by a major academic study on the exit polls that showed John Kerry winning the November vote count.


http://votecobb.org/newsclips/2005/feb/news2005-02-03a.php

[emlev]

9. Would someone please explain how that helps?

People keep talking about getting things into the record as very important, but I'd like more details about why it's of significant benefit. Thanks.

[rigel99]

11. SANCTIONS DROPPED against Case OH Folks.... But it aint over folks...

please someone from FreePress tell us what this means..
does it free you up for further action?

EITHER WAY , CONGRATS.. we knew Petro and Blackwell were bluffing and had no case.. glad to see you guys free of this madness...

******

Ohio Supreme Court Won't Sanction Lawyers

/2 hours, 29 minutes ago/

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ending one of the last fights from the contentious 2004
presidential campaign, the Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday declined to
punish four attorneys who had challenged the results in court. Chief
Justice Thomas Moyer ruled against Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro's
attempt to have the lawyers sanctioned for filing "a meritless claim"
against the vote that gave *President Bush*
<http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=President+Bush> a win in
Ohio and, as a result, enough electoral votes to win a second term in
the White House.

In legal documents filed with the state Supreme Court, the lawyers had
said the challenge they filed on behalf of 37 voters included enough
evidence of voting irregularities to back up their allegations of
widespread fraud. They later withdrew the claim.

Petro, a Republican, asked for sanctions against lawyers Cliff Arnebeck,
Robert Fitrakis, Susan Truitt and Peter Peckarsky. If the court had
sanctioned the lawyers, they could have been forced to repay attorney's
fees and court costs.

Moyer, acting under the court's power to assign election-related
complaints to a single justice, said that while the court has the
authority to sanction attorneys, the speed with which elections must be
challenged allows the court some leeway.

"The General Assembly could have expressly authorized courts to sanction
those who pursue frivolous election contests. It has not," Moyer, a
Republican, wrote in his decision.

President Bush beat Democratic Sen. *John Kerry*
<http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=John+Kerry> by about
118,000 votes in Ohio, which turned out to be the pivotal state in the
Nov. 2 election. The lawyers' election challenge was withdrawn in early
January, with those contesting the results saying it was clear their
argument would be dismissed as moot with Bush set to be inaugurated.

[rigel99]

12. A GREAT BIG THANKS to all of you

Susan Truitt
Bob Fritrakis
Cliff Arnebeck
Peter Pekarkis

for fighting for the rest of us...

whew! they must be worried we are coming from another angle...

[Andy_Stephenson]

13. I just got off the phone with Susan Truitt.

She is happy this is behind her and was spending the afternoon at the zoo with her 6 year old.

I am glad this is over for the four as well. I can't wait to see their next move.

[meganmonkey]

14. Yep, these folks are still on fire

as demostrated in Columbus.

Hope you are doing well, Andy!

:hug:

[Dee625]

16. Good to hear

I'm not surprised as Susan sounded extremely confident that they would get nowhere with the sanctions.

One of the main reasons I drove to the teach-in was to hear these lawyers speak. They really know their stuff and are quite dedicated.

(disclaimer - I usually don't care for lawyers. The above named are some exceptions)

[Senator]

15. Next move must be to sue Petro for wrongful prosecution.

I know, I know.

But this abuse of office is part of the continuing coverup.

They should also seek disbarment for Petro. At least file the complaint.

It is the only way to not back down.
--

[FogerRox]

17. hmmm sounds good to me Senator---and kick

[Fly by night]

18. Good news -- very happy for Cliff, Bob et al

I wonder if the decision came with any detailed verbiage (as to the reasons behind dismissing the case) or whether it was simply dismissed? Can any of you find out -- it would be nice to know if the judge had any written opinion on the merits of the original charge. Thanks.

BTW, Cliff and Bob were two of the most dynamic speakers at the "Nash-ional" conference. I'm listening to the audio now from the conference. If anyone wants a two CD set of the plenary sessions (with 30+ speakers and 14 hours of presentations over two days), let me know.

[dchill]

19. So...

They decided not to prosecute some people who did nothing wrong?

Great. Bully for them. Ohio Supreme Court Rules!!!

[rigel99]

20. IT clears the way for bigger things..

we learned our lessons not to fight at the SOS layers but more in the trenches..

This is only the beginning....

[bettyellen]

21. ....

[LightningFlash]

22. Finally.

Now push the courts and re-open the case, I heard the legal case is now before Judge Sargus. Does anyone have Judge Sargus email?

[eomer]

24. Judge Sargus transferred the recount case to Judge Carr

See post #6 above.

Here's another link for those of us who don't have Pacer access:
http://www.nvri.org/about/ohio_sargus_transfer_order050905.pdf

[Algorem]

25. Moyer admonished lawyers...Arnebeck hopes for proper investigation

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1116581951227290.xml&coll=2

(headline is wrong-"C.HOMELESS TK")

Friday, May 20, 2005
John McCarthy
Associated Press
Columbus

-- Ending one of the last fights from the contentious 2004 presidential campaign, Ohio's top judge admonished four lawyers who challenged President Bush's victory but said he was powerless to punish them...

In legal documents filed with the Ohio Supreme Court, the lawyers had said the challenge they filed on behalf of 37 voters included enough evidence of voting irregularities to back up their allegations of widespread fraud. Neither John Kerry's campaign nor the Democrat Party was part of the challenge. The challenge was later withdrawn.

Petro, a Republican, asked for sanctions against lawyers Cliff Arnebeck, Robert Fitrakis, Susan Truitt and Peter Peckarsky. If the court had sanctioned the lawyers, they could have been forced to repay attorney's fees and court costs...

"We hope that there will be a proper judicial investigation," Arnebeck said.