Voters Don't Want Bush Re-Elected says a poll reported by the Voice of America.
Are they right? Sane people hope so!
USCA5 Docket Sheet for 02-41051
This docket sheet and the last entries thereupon detail the second humiliating defeat for the Scientology cult within the last 24 hours. Having already lost an appeal of a previous victory before the Fifth Circuit, and today having already lost a major breach of contract suit even in the notoriously friendly Baird court, now they have had their petition for an en banc rehearing denied as well.
Their appeal path now lies with the Supreme Court, which is unlikely to review a case so trivial in terms of the legal issues, since the original trial court was unambiguously wrong.
If you're not sure what this is about, see here.
Quoted from Kady in this article on ScientologyWatch:
It was a huge moral - and practical - victory for Team Dandar today in the Clearwater breach case before Judge Baird. After just three hours of deliberation, the jury returned with a verdict of $4500 in damages - just slightly higher than the $2500 put forward by Dandar's attorney, Luke Lirot.
Scientology had been seeking $50,000 plus punitive damages from Dandar and Dandar, and according to an article in today's St. Petersburg Times, lead att'y Sam Rosen even suggested to the jury that anything short of $2,000,050 would not be suitably punitive.
In his closing statement, Rosen demanded punitive damages from Dandar's firm and Dell Liebreich, executor of the McPherson estate, totalling $4,000,000 - on top of the $50,000 the church sought for legal fees.
The jury, apparently, disagreed. In a public statement, the jury forewoman, herself a public defender, called the church's claims "overkill". In its decision, the jury dismissed the claims of tortious interference and conspiracy on which the church had based its demands for massive punitive damages.
The victory is doubly sweet for Dandar. Since the awarded damages are less than the $15,000 that Dandar offered to settle the case, under Florida's Proposal for Settlement Statute, he won't have to pay one thin dime of the $4,500 award.
In fact, the church will have to pay all Dandar's att'y fees and costs accumulated from the time of the settlement offer.
With the threat of the breach case off its back, the McPherson Estate is ready to take on the church in the wrongful death case later this fall. Congratulations to Dandar and Dandar, Luke Lirot and everyone else who helped make this victory possible.
Study of Bush's Psyche Touches a Nerve
'nuff said.
Mr. Scary has just released a site entitled Florida Politicians and Officials lending credibility to Scientology? covering various the various unscrupulous Florida politicians who will cozy up to any bunch of scumbag criminals as long as it gets them more money for reelection.
Among the malefactors is Mark Foley, a closeted gay Republican who appears to be attempting to dispel gossip about his sexuality with a bizarre attack campaign against nudists.
Some outtakes with more photos are available at this site.
UPDATED: November 8, 2003, to update the docket sheet as well as add links to certain selected documents.
Most important is the settlement with the Secretary of State, although another intriguing item is a series of notices of unsealing. Some parties had submitted documents under seal, which are due to be unsealed shortly. Here is a sample. I'm not sure what the material to be unsealed consists of, but it may be interesting if it was initially filed under seal.
I was surprised to note nobody seems to be following the NAACP civil suit against Katherine Harris and other similar crooks in Florida, so I decided to put up the docket sheet from NAACP v. Harris, Case #: 01-CV-120.
While I don't have many of the associated documents, the ACLU has the complaint here, and the docket sheet should at least be of interest if for no other reason than having a synopsis of events and dates as well as names of lawyers and parties. (The complaint is also available in PDF format here.)
I would hope people would take more interest in this case, considering that it is about what is supposedly a sacred right in our society, the right to vote, and how it was stolen without so much as a whimper from the so-called "liberal press."
If you don't realize exactly what happened that led to this suit, read Greg Palast.
For a simpler but no less compelling explanation, see Grand Theft America, a Flash animation by Eric Blumrich.
The ACLU's website notes the case was settled, which appears from the docket to have become final on September 19, 2002. Here is that settlement, although it should be noted that there were settlements with other parties at earlier dates, most notably the settlement with ChoicePoint, the company originally responsible for the deliberatly tainted "felon list."
Again, other selected documents are available.