Breaking News! Rachel Lea Hunter & NC Bar tangle over Net nickname!

Thursday, January 08, 2009

No Crimes And Misdeweiners: Rachel Hunter vs. The NC State Bar

Rachel Lea Hunter . . . the Raleigh-Durham lawyer and ballsy/mouthy broad that (during her campaign for a seat on the NC Supreme Court) Omnipotent, Blogger King & Key-West slumming Trust-Fund Baby, Ed Cone once dubbed "batshit crazy" (very sensitive and poetic on Edward's part, since Rachel survived a brain tumor) . . . is in hot water again with the NC State Bar.

In my humble opinion, it's not hot water at all. In fact, it's cold-as-ice slime.

Before I get started, I suppose I should re-state my disgust for the NC State Bar. No one circles the wagons better . . . except maybe the NC Medical Board.

Let's be clear. I don't agree with Rachel on everything, and her campaign's rhetoric at times was WAY-over-the-top (as much as I am often a connoisseur of things way-over-the-top). But the last time she ran for judge, I voted for her.

You see, Rachel Lea Hunter was spot-on about the corruption & good-ole-boy/pay-to-play politics that permeates North Carolina halls of justice.

She had no use for the status quo. Rachel called it "the Beast".

Now that term may have made the Coneheads' heads spin, but it's when she got my vote (along with around 640,000 others). When you think about it, she was one of the first candidates to run on the concept that we desperately needed "change" in state government.

(Allow me to pause while I picture the heads of "progressives" everywhere exploding in front of their keyboards).

Rachel is married, of course, to Connie Mack Berry, Jr. He's my absolute favorite "convicted felon" (something the progressive-yet-not-so-compassionate "Cone-heads" loved to call him when he did battle on Rachel's behalf). Since the end of the campaign, we've kept in contact by e-mail.

Connie and Rachel were both very kind to me at a time when I needed it, and I don't forget kindness. I kept up with their health battles . . . and periodically asked for updates on Connie's son . . . who served tours in Iraq and (recently) South Korea. Connie's had some very rough medical seas to navigate lately . . . several very serious/dangerous surgeries for vascular problems - as well as the partial removal of a lung. But he's back online and seems to be feisty as ever. The man that our local Cone-heads (who served no tours in Iraq) said was "running on one cylinder" is definitely fired up . . . and his aim is keen.

I love it.

Call me enlightened, but the thing about convicted felons is that they have accepted responsibility for their actions, and are paying . . . or have paid . . . their debt to society (p.s., they can vote too). The great thing about America is that when you pay your debt, you get second chances. And thirds, etc., etc., etc.

Or at least that's what those liberal local bloggers tell the rest of the less-enlightened world.

Of course, accepting responsibility and paying a debt would be in stark contrast to the unconvicted felons that for years have been protected and shielded by members-in-good-standing of the North Carolina State Bar.

Now, the enlightened local liberal bloggers around here don't care about that. The victims of these white-collar criminals can be easily dismissed as obsessed "wack-jobs" who are supposed to just get over it . . . to move on along. It's easier for the enlightened liberals to focus on themselves and their much more relevant agendas.

Indeed, given how many felons convicted and otherwise were/are involved in the governing (and billion-dollar bilking) of North Carolina . . . and how most of them have gotten a free pass . . . I always thought it was way beyond lame for our supposedly enlightened local liberal bloggers to be slamming Connie. Given my own experience being targeted for professional/economic destruction (go to sleep, Roch), Connie's explanation for what happened in GA (i.e. things got out of control because he was very ill from cancer, his wife had died, he was targeted by political enemies - and he made a plea decision based on those circumstances) is something I can easily conceptualize, understand and accept.

Especially now that someone else is being targeted for total destruction.

Let's get to the point of this post: A little while ago, Connie forwarded me a copy of the latest TOTALLY BOGUS complaint lodged against his beloved Rachel by the North Carolina State Bar.

The complaint, filed back in November, is perhaps the silliest, most transparently vindictive, politically-motivated "pay-back" I have ever seen.

http://drjshousecalls.blogspot.com/2009/01/no-crimes-and-misdeweiners-ra...

MaxTheDog2's picture

The NC Bar has really piss off the wrong folks this time

Re: affidavit‏
From: Al Schlaf (aulus@mchsi.com)
Sent: Thu 1/08/09 9:14 PM
To: Connie Berry (conniemackberryjr@hotmail.com)

What I wrote:

Actually, Connie is referring to an ancient history web site, AncientSites.com, which ran from about 1995 to 2001 and was reborn a few years later as Ancient Worlds.net.

I was a member there from late 1997 to present and am one of a number of people from there who will be swearing out affidavits attesting that Rachel was using "Madame Justice" as a moniker at least as far back as then.

I am hardly "prominent," just a teacher, but we have several lawyers, business and professional people from there, all willing to file the same. Of course, since we are friends of Rachel and Connie, mostly damn Yankees or foreigners, I'm sure that is all going to be attacked as untrustworthy, suspicious and/or near treasonous by this bunch of dirt bags.

Too damn bad. I stick up for my friends. I speak up when I see something wrong. I'll swear out an affidavit and testify in open court if it comes to it. These clowns have pissed off the wrong people this time.

Al Schlaf
Des Moines, IA

I don't even know who Ed Cone

I don't even know who Ed Cone is but it's hard to argue with his assertion. Hunter is "Batshit Crazy".

I'm a moderate Democrat.

MaxTheDog2's picture

I don't even know who Ed Cone is! Neither does Ed?

I don't even know who Ed Cone is but it's hard to argue with his assertion. Hunter is "Batshit Crazy".* Huh

Don't worry! You have not miss anything about how important Ed Cone is in the big picture of North Carolina politics. You do understand that it was Ed who later apologize to Hunter for calling himself Batshit crazy instead of Hunter. No doubt a very confuse young man in the 21 st century......

Max, before you unleash

a diatribe about me or my possible associations with Bilderberg, Opus Dei or GOBCA (Good Ole Boy's Club of America), please hear me out:

Voter turnout, education and involvement are very important to me and many others reading this. The stronger these elements are, the closer we will get to a truly representative government. In my opinion (I know many will disagree), non-partisan elections like the Judicial races present even more of a problem, because it removes basic information about a candidate's general ideological position on many social issues. So there's even more "guessing" involved when voters make their choice.

Adding the "Madame Justice" to Rachel's name on the ballot will mislead voters. What percent? Who knows, but it's safe to say that most of those who won't be misled are the voters who have spent a lot of time researching candidates and discovered that it's only a nickname. And those people, unfortunately, represent a small portion of the electorate.

So whether it's Rachel's intent or not, voters will be misled. And frankly, I don't care how long she's had the nickname. Even if the doctor smacked her on the butt when she was born and said, "Hellooo, Madame Justice!", that still doesn't change the fact that many voters would choose her because they assume she's a currently or formerly sitting judge. From everything I've read, Rachel genuinely believes the system is flawed and unfair. The way to fix that is by exposing the truth, not obscuring it.

MaxTheDog2's picture

See no evil nor hear no evil, nor speak no evil?

a diatribe about me or my possible associations with Bilderberg, Opus Dei or GOBCA (Good Ole Boy's Club of America), please hear me out*scharrison

I had no idea you rode goats and attended Chicken Owl dinners at the lodge!

Adding the "Madame Justice" to Rachel's name on the ballot will mislead voters. What percent? * scharrison

As far as we know! The Madame Justice name was not found on the ballot next to Rachel Lea Hunter. Unless you know something that the state board of elections does not know, that comment will not hold water nor float a boat...If you will read Rachel Site [ Under Breaking news]and her answers to the Bar, you will find that they flat ass lie about the ballot process and the nickname.

that still doesn't change the fact that many voters would choose her because they assume she's a currently or formerly sitting judge. From everything I've read, Rachel genuinely believes the system is flawed and unfair. The way to fix that is by exposing the truth, not obscuring it.* scharrison

Unless you got a study after 2 campaigns proving that the Voters of North Carolina were con by the use of a internet name, than that point is mute. As to fixing the corruption in the judical system, You should you spent a little time reading in depth the site [http://www.rachelforjustice.com] from day 1, or reading her excellent book on the political campaign. we have done more in exposing the evil judical system than anyone in this state period! Why do you think the Republicans and the establishment legal system along with the mainstream media fought us so hard? Please tell me how we obscure the evil system when fighting it to the bitter end and taking all the phony crap from them?

MaxTheDog2's picture

Madame Justice Fans React to NC Bar

Post a Comment On: Dr.J's HouseCalls"No Crimes And Misdeweiners:

Rachel Hunter vs. The NC State Bar"

4 Comments

Al Schlaf said...
Actually, Connie is referring to an ancient history web site, AncientSites.com, which ran from about 1995 to 2001 and was reborn a few years later as Ancient Worlds.net.

I was a member there from late 1997 to present and am one of a number of people from there who will be swearing out affidavits attesting that Rachel was using "Madame Justice" as a moniker at least as far back as then.

I am hardly "prominent," just a teacher, but we have several lawyers, business and professional people from there, all willing to file the same. Of course, since we are friends of Rachel and Connie, mostly damn Yankees or foreigners, I'm sure that is all going to be attacked as untrustworthy, suspicious and/or near treasonous by this bunch of dirt bags.

Too damn bad. I stick up for my friends. I speak up when I see something wrong. I'll swear out an affidavit and testify in open court if it comes to it. These clowns have pissed off the wrong people this time.

Al Schlaf
Des Moines, IA

1/08/2009 09:02:00 PM

Dr. Mary Johnson said...
Thank you for reading and clarifying, Al. Sometimes, when my fingers are flying (and they were), I am not as clear as I would like to be.

This Bar complaint simply enrages me. The state of North Carolina should not be able to treat citizens . . . like Rachel . . . like me . . . the way it has.

I am a relative newbie to this game . . . although after almost four years slugging it out with Cone & company (after being invited to participate in the supreme joke called "citizen journalism" by John Robinson at the GSO News & Record), it feels like four hundred.

I also stick up for my friends.

Of course, sticking up for my patients is what put me on the yellow-brick-road that led me here.

But it also led me to people like Connie and Rachel - very good friends that I have never met.

And that is the beauty of the blogosphere.

1/08/2009 09:20:00 PM

CARL'S RANT said...
I have been a member of Ancient Sites and now Ancient Worlds since 1998. I am a retired federal civil servant (managerial level) and am going to swear in an affidavit that Rachel was using "Madame Justice" nickname back then.

This is the most egregious misuse of authority I have ever seen in my 65 years on this planet. Talk about blatant political pay back. The morons trying to get away with this have to have the brains and IQ's of a goose berry bush. I wonder how difficult the bar exam is in North Carolina? Must be at a junior college level for these morons to have passed or someone took it for them.

Come on people of North Carolina get rid of the "stench and rot" in the judicial system in your state. You are becoming the laughing stock of the country because of the countrified and uneducated hicks in office there!

1/08/2009 10:09:00 PM

Dr. Mary Johnson said...
It simply amazes me what these clowns will "prosecute" and what they won't.

As a public servant who defied threats to save a life, I was ripped to shreds by a "non-profit" hospital that broke EVERY rule in the book. I took it to court and insult/more injury was added to the initial slap-down . . . first with a BOGUS SLAPP suit . . . and later with EVERY single lawyer in the equation lying their asses off to swindle me.

When I figured out what had happened, I consulted a number of lawyers and they ALL told me to go to the AG and the State Bar. I should NOT have to file a civil suit.

And HAH! WHAT A COLOSSAL JOKE that has been! That was like my naive notion that the Medical Board and NCDHHS would protect me when I went in! I've been ignored, ridiculed, spat and sneered at.

I mean, my situation could be resolved with a plea to the perjury - which I have IREFUTABLE EVIDENCE OF. Yet the case has NEVER been investigated - it's stonewalled by a local DA so living in the local mill boys' pockets.

I am sorry, but I think that the failure to prosecute very important guilty people (because of who they are or who they know) is JUST AS EGREGIOUS as the agressive prosecution of an innocent.

I watched the Duke fisaco unfold - knowing that once the national media had finished chewing on Mike Nifong, NOTHING would really change.

Now we have the NC State Bar going after Rachel - for the VERY SAME reasons Randolph Hospital turned my life to crap.

They want her to shut up and "just go away".

1/09/2009 07:26:00 AM

MaxTheDog2's picture

NC Bar Refuses to answer Madame Justice questions in Discovery

Unbeleiveable!!!!!! The NC Bar refuse to answer all questions in discovery citing it was a State Secret and Rachel was harassing them by asking the questions......More to be posted later with the Discovery answers on a public site........

MaxTheDog2's picture

NCBAR show it's blatant assholery

Re: NCBAR answers to Madame Justice‏

From: Al Schlaf (aulus@mchsi.com)
Sent: Fri 1/16/09 11:34 PM
To: Max The Dog ...............

Comes the lay reader of this legal travesty to answer with points of his own in answer to the clear cover-up evidenced by the replies of and by the Plaintiff:

You have got to be fucking kidding me
Really
It is suggested that Plaintiff go out, get a book on French history, check the index and then read all references to "Star Chamber"
When the allegations are about people misled by the name "Madame Justice," does it not make at least a little bit of sense to, oh, I don't know, NAME WHO THESE INDIVIDUALS ARE? Does this not kinda, sorta fall under the guarantee under the US Constitution for an accused to be able to face his or her accusers?
Honest to God, I am so glad it is not I facing such blatant assholery. I am reminded of the railroading my family got thirty some years ago in my late father's breach of contract suit against AMF. Everytime AMF tossed up similar shit, the judge rolled over and allowed it. It got to the point where my brother's sub-vocalizations of disgust brought the judge to say "There will be no more of that or I will rule contempt of court." To which my brother calmly replied, "Your Honor, I am doing my best not to be contemptuous of this court."

I would have been much less civil.

MaxTheDog2's picture

Big Blopper Named as " Madame Justice" Lawyer against NCBAR

It appears that Rachel Lea Hunter has hired the best Free Speech lawyer on the planet to defend her against the tyrants of injustice and constitutional rights...........

http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/the_big_bopper/

MaxTheDog2's picture

DR Mary Rips NC BAR Over Madame Justice! Exposes Bar Personas

http://drjshousecalls.blogspot.com/2009/02/change-progressive-blogospher...

Monday, February 02, 2009

Change & The "Progressive" Blogosphere: The NC State Bar Is Totally Legally & Morally Wrong, But Since It's Rachel Hunter, And We HATE Her, It's Okay!

The reader has fair warning: This is not a "political" blog in any sense of the word, but I have strong political opinions and tonight they will be front and center (I've been sick for several days and saving it up). You see, I recognized that North Carolina was really a "closet blue state" a very long time ago . . . during the Clinton administration (which it looks like we're about to repeat). Since that time, adminstrations have come and administrations have gone. Promises repeated yet unfulfilled get old. I want change.

Of course, we're officially an Obamanation now. The parties and balls and that really awful concert on the National Mall (starring all the "left" people) are over. The inaugural speech of a man who fancies himself the reincarnation of Martin Luther King (and isn't), along with that appallingly racist benediction are (sadly) history. The tons of trash (dropped by the supporters of a "green" President) that littered the normally pristine grounds beneath Mr. Lincoln's steely gaze - have been shoveled up for landfills.

And Lincoln's ghost has retreated back to his-old-White-House-office-converted-to-a-bedroom . . . in order to watch Oprah jump triumphantly on the mattress of the bed poor Willie died on (I'm sure Her Eternal-And-Always-Milking-It-Heftiness will dedicate an entire episode of the show to the life-affirming experience).

I wonder. Did anyone present to an Emergency Department in hyperglycemic coma from watching giggly/flirty Katie Couric interview Obama? Because I was getting really nauseated and dizzy before I turned the TV off.

On that thought, and not-exactly-basking in the afterglow of Obamaoneness, I wonder if maybe, just maybe, the free-falling-free-press will consider objectively reporting the news . . . now that our long national nightmare (the one that the MSM spent two years virtually ignoring . . . in order to get Bush out and Obama in) resumes under a new President's stewardship? After all, Obama says anything is possible.

And (cue glassy-eyed, albeit tear-streaked stare) . . . I . . . believe . . . everything . . . he says.

Resistance . . . is . . . futile.

Release the enemy combatants! Pay for those abortions overseas! Fund even more entitlements (socializing medicine is for the children)! Pass a stimulus bill that, in terms of actually shoring up small businesses and creating jobs for the middle & lower classes, is the most expensive fraud ever perpetuated on the American people (I can just picture my poor Blogfather's head spinning at his keyboard).

I digress. Like Joe, I need to focus on what I focus on - and try to keep it local. And so I shall.

So today, we are going to focus on the Constitutional rights of the "wrong people" (that would be ordinary hard-working/tax-paying/middle-class citizens as opposed to enemy combatants and illegal aliens) . . . under Democratic administrations in North Carolina (in this case, Hunt/Easley/Perdue). We're going to look at things that are going on right now . . . things that could be STOPPED . . . broken systems of oversight that could be FIXED . . . as opposed to impotently and high-mindedly re-examining stories that have had their day, not to mention plenty of print space in the local newspapers

It's fine to learn from history. But sometimes you have the opportunity - and the responsibility - to change it.

On January 8th, I blogged on the North Carolina State Bar's latest attack on Rachel Lea Hunter, the Durham lawyer and former NC Supreme Court candidate that the GSO blogosphere loves to hate. Although I've never met her in person, and we're not always on the same page politically, I feel a strong bond of friendship with Rachel . . . and her husband, Connie. To coin someone else's words, she has shown great "physical courage" and "perseverance" in the face of extreme adversity and hostility.

A few days afterwards, I posted some follow-up thoughts as I mused on the REAL state of the state for women in North Carolina. For in all "reality", Bev Perdue's "historic" election presents no good reason for this particular professional woman to celebrate.

Meanwhile, I'm still mulling over the irony and ideological hypocrisy (not to mention the deliberate, methodical cruelty) displayed on a daily basis at Edward Cone's WordUp. You see, I have a hard time reconciling the "civic concern" of those who believe that the terrorists and war criminals at Gitmo MUST be afforded due process . . . along with every right & privilege the United States legal system can afford . . . yet Dr. Mary Johnson, a more-than-competent local physician (at least, in the latest group-pummel, they finally conceded that) . . . and former public servant deeply wronged by a corrupt medico-legal system right under their stuck-up noses . . . is "delusional" and SOL.

Makes perfect sense to me.

It's been my observation and experience (crawl back under the bed, Roch) that the "progressive" types who get all emotional when they talk about "change" and "reality-based" leadership, and transparency and accountability and the importance of free speech only really mean it when you're agreeing with them . . . or if your particular situation fits their agenda.

And they can get pretty ugly when you don't agree with them. In fact, I simply cannot believe my luck that alcohol-guzzling, Dave's-Mountain hating, Hillary-loving (translation, we disagree . . . fundamentally . . . on everything) "TruBlu" showed up at Cone's to perfectly demonstrate how just a little partisanship, ignorance and vindictiveness can go a very long way:

Seriously, has the NC medical board considered looking into someone who is this unstable still seeing patients? I mean really, anyone who can use the word "ethics" concerning our new President after the last eight years has more than a mental problem.

After a few more jabs from the Coneheads (the mob grows when they smell blood), "Tru" came back and kept right on kicking. Indeed, if I knew who he/she was, I'd have a claim for libel (as I explained in the thread).

Of course, I've had one or two of those before and let it go (the topic of a whole nuther post soon to come - and I'll be naming names). I've always let it go.

But like the empty promises, it's getting real old. I'm supposed to turn the other cheek when "Tru" lobs stuff like this:

I have heard nothing but what a good doctor the one on this blog USED to be.

The "Coning continued". Clearly enjoying being the newest member of the mob (who found his/her musings quite "reasonable"), "Tru" offered the opinion that, apart from the duties the Medical Board already doesn't do well, they should function as physician thought police:

I do think the medical board should look into any physician who makes the derogatory remarks about other health care providers in this town.

The thing is, the Medical Board did look into it - because I asked them to. Alas, they cut and ran.

Of course, all of "Tru's" opinions about me are based in first-hand knowlege or fact:

"I have never read Dr. Johnson’s blog and don’t need to".

I get it. Patients can have/express (false) opinions (even against a health care provider they've never seen). Doctors (who also happen to have been patients surgically mauled at the hospital they're criticizing) telling the truth must be muzzled.

Actually, after all the vitriol "Tru" spewed (of course, doing it anonymously really demonstrates the courage of one's convictions), I should be saying, "Thank You!" It presents a perfect set-up for this post.

For as we move into week three of "change", just how far partisanship, ignorance, and vindictiveness can go in the great state of North Carolina is perfectly demonstrated by the press's radio silence on the case of the State Bar vs. Rachel Lea Hunter.

(This is going to hurt, Coneheads. Be careful of the change you wish for . . . you might just have to step up.)

No matter what you may think of Rachel Lea Hunter or her political notions, what the North Carolina State Bar is trying to do to her (i.e. strip her of her law license, destroy her professional reputation, and impede her ability to make a living) is totally legally & morally wrong . . . a perfect example of the same kind of good-ole-boy "we're-so-totally-in-the-wrong-but-you-can't-touch-us-because-you're-not-right-people" bovine excrement that drove an Asheboro Pediatrician who "didn't fit in" from her hometown eleven years ago.

The State Bar's action is a blatant, purely politically-motivated attack on free speech and property rights that flies in the face of the 1st, 5th, 6th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

As Rachel's battle with the Bar pertains to the basic rights that are supposed to afforded to every US citizen, let's review the Amendments linked above (for the Coneheads, I'll try to keep it simple and not use too many words):

Amendment Number One: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment Number Two: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment Number Six: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.

Now, anticipating a word-parsing point that a quick-to-pounce "fact-checker" might make (that would be like Roch before he talks to Spag), Amendments 5 and 6 refer to criminal prosecutions. The fact-checker would say that I am a "wack-job" or "delusional" or "unstable" because "batshit crazy" (alas, we cannot prosecute Cone) Rachel is technically not accused of a crime (like say, this actual Connecticut judge was).

However (from the Wikipedia summary), Fifth Amendment protections apply wherever and whenever an individual is compelled to testify. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the right against self-incrimination applies whether the witness is in Federal or state court (see Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U.S. 1 (1964)), and whether the proceeding itself is criminal or civil (see McCarthy v. Arndstein, 266 U.S. 34 (1924)).

Moreover, once it is granted, Rachel's law license (like my medical license - the one TruBlu would have taken away for thinking ill of other medical professionals in Asheboro) is a protected property right. Without it, we cannot make a living. To take it away should require proof of something really, really bad - i.e. just cause after due process.

And so, Amendments 5 & 6 flow very naturally into Amendment 14 (more specific to the responsibility of North Carolina in this situation):

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

And that where it becomes crystal clear (to anyone actually paying attention) that the NC State Bar's under-the-radar, slime-covered "disciplinary action" is the modern-day equivalent of a Salem Witch Hunt . . . a Star Chamber . . . down-home, good-old-boy, Southern-fried-style.

But hey, who's cares? It's only Rachel. She's not a good progressive Democrat. She does not drink the Kool-aid.

For the layperson not familiar with the case, here is the crux of what is going on - in America - in 2009: A former candidate for the NC Supreme Court finds herself targeted for total professional destruction by a state-sponsored regulatory body . . . on a beyond silly, trumped-up charge (i.e. her online moniker, "Madame Justice", misleads visitors to her website) . . . because the boys at the NC State Bar simply cannot have her running for office in 2010. She must be stopped.

And not just stopped. Humiliated. Crushed. Destroyed. Unable to support herself in her chosen profession.

Now if I were a tech journalist, one thing would stand out. You see, from a citizen-journalist standpoint, the really beautiful thing is that Rachel is allowing us to follow this action in real time. She is not running or hiding in shame. She is doing what I would love to someday see a doctor do on the web with a malpractice action (what the mighty Flea got burned for doing anonymously) . . . or what I am contemplating doing soon, if/when I can finally bring myself to sue the government & medical regulatory bodies that did not, IN ANY WAY, defend or protect the duties they require.

Rachel has posted the Bar's complaint and the discovery give & take on her website.

It's fascinating, disturbing stuff. And as my case speaks volumes about the sad/sorry state of medicine, Rachel's situation could not be more relevant to the disturbing political climate of our day.

So where, I ask you, are the big state newspapers (in Raleigh and Charlotte and Greensboro)? Where is the enlightened, inclusive and oh-so-progressive North Carolina blogosphere?

Well, you see, the John Robinsons and Ed Cones and Roch Smiths (I know, I've left some of you out) of this world HATE Rachel (just like they HATE me). They want her gone. They think the Bar should get a bright shiny medal for its creativity. Right and wrong do not matter.

They hate Rachel's husband, wacky-like-a-fox Connie, too. Make no mistake, this is a two-for-one wink & nod.

But not so fast. Rachel is represented by this guy (pro bono - because right and wrong do matter to him) . . . aka, the "Big Bopper". And all I have to say, is woe, Woe, WOE be unto the "Sonny Crockett" impersonators at North Carolina State Bar (don't bother to take the link down, Mr. Oten, full-color hard copies have been made).

Pertaining to all those pesky Constitutional rights outlined above, let's look at the Bar's responses to Rachel's interogatories.

Question 1: Identify any and all judicial candidates subjected to investigation by the NC State Bar druing the pendancy or aftermath of their campaigns.

I dunno. But this seems like a very reasonable question to me. It would give us ("we-the-people" that the Bar is supposedly trying to protect from Rachel) a fairly good idea of the Bar's impartiality . . . i.e. is it doling out discipline equally or has Rachel has been singled out?

The information requested is certainly not "confidential" (this particular state-sponsored dodge really sticks in my craw because it has all of the shades of my case for perjury against Randolph Hospital administrators . . . as the information in IRS 990's is NOT confidential). You see, the Bar posts filings in disciplinary hearings/actions/orders/preliminary injunctions on its website. Ergo, how hard can it be for the Bar to research and answer this question?

But the State Bar thinks this question is "overbroad" and unduly "burdensome".

You've got to wonder (and it's actually kind of scary). How many judicial candidates has the Bar actually disciplined? And why?

As our dear local champion of justice-for-all, Roch Smith, Jr., would ask (if the Coneheads didn't hate Rachel & Connie), what is the State Bar hiding?

Question 2: Identify any employess of the NC State Bar who use or have used Internet aliases or personas on any website.

The NC State Bar is prosecuting Rachel for adopting/using the "misleading" Internet alias "Madame Justice". So again, this is a reasonable question in terms of equitable distribution of legal discipline. Have they gone after anyone else for doing the same thing?

Yet the Bar (once again) sidesteps the question. It's unduly burdensome . . . "not reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissable evidence."

Oh really? The NC State Bar staff attorney prosecuting Rachel's case is Brian Oten. Online, he is known as "Sonny Crockett". And, speaking as your average ignorant Internet layperson searching in vain for competent/impartial law enforcement in North Carolina, I must say that Mr. Oten is misleading viewers, because there is CLEARLY no resemblance.

The only thing missing in that shot is a pair of ladies panties on his head.

I wonder if anyone dropping by "The Law of Videogames" thinks he's a cop? And what about copyright infringement?

So say it with me now. HYPOCRISY. DOUBLE STANDARD.

Rachel's interrogatories move on along to ask variations of the same question (in no particular order): To whom has the State Bar been talking to (and plotting with) to deprive Rachel Lea Hunter of her law license? Has the Bar communicated with the chairpersons/other agents of the NC Republican or Democratic Parties? Has the Bar communicated with any other judicial candidates? What about the NC State Board of Elections . . . or the Administrative Office of the Courts?

Now again, as an (apparently misguided) layperson looking in on a legal/disciplinary proceeding . . . expecting to see transparency and accountability and due process and fair play (especially given the wave of "change" that has reportedly swept through Raleigh and Washington) . . . these seem to me to be very reasonable questions.

In other words, who put the Bar up to this?

In each instance, the NC State Bar takes the equivalent of the Fifth. Something called "attorney-client" work product is cited.

But again, the question begs, WHO IS THE "CLIENT"?

The NC State Bar, after all, represents you and me. But some yous & mes have more political clout than others . . . and don't have the courage or sense of accountability to put a name behind an accusation - just like a lot of "TruBlus" on the blogs.

That's why Question (8) bears the closet look of all: Identify all individuals who have filed complaints regarding use of the term "Madame Justice" on the Defendant's website www.rachelforjustice.com, or who claim to have been misled by use of the term "Madame Justice" on the defendant's website www.rachelforjustice.com.

Once again, Mr. Oten ("Sonny Crockett" to you and me) and the NC State Bar itself takes the Fifth. The information is "confidential".

And even if it wasn't "confidential", the answer Mr. Oten provides to the question is "none" .

So. Not only does Rachel not have the basic Constitutional right to confront her accusers . . .

. . . THERE AREN'T ANY!?!

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FRICKING KIDDING ME!?!

HOW IS RACHEL HUNTER SUPPOSED TO HAVE ANY REASONABLE CHANCE OF DEFENDING HERSELF?

Of course, maybe the point is the N.C. State Bar does not want to give her a reasonable chance. They want her to "just go away".

Let's move one to the Bar's response to Rachel's request for the production of documents . . . specifically request number 3 (remember that Rachel is simply asking to see any documentation that might be presented against her at the hearing - which is her fundamental right).

Produce the authority relied upon by the NC State Bar to support its reference to the term"Madame Justice" as an exclusive reference to members of the judiciary.

The Bar provides a copy of the N.C. Constitution - without any specific references.

Well, okay. That's not an overly broad response. And I guess Rachel is supposed to read their minds. While I do concede that the State Bar has the jurisdiction and authority to discipline lawyers for unethical behavior, I've looked and looked, yet I cannot find anything in our Constitution that specifically states that "Madame Justice" is a term that refers exclusively to a female justice - or that it's unethical for Rachel to use it as an online moniker.

While the reader is munching on that, he/she want to pause for a moment and meet the gay vampire freaks, poetic prostitutes, british creme de la femmes, thoroughbred horses, and sci-fi movie afficianados who have used the moniker or term, "Madame Justice" online.

All it took was a two-second Google search. And it was not unduly burdensome at all.

Call me "delusional", but I don't think any of them are lady judges.

Once, again, in terms of basic Constitutional rights, lets look at request 6 as well: Produce all data, studies or reports compiled by the N.C. State Bar, regarding the deception of the voters by the Defendant's website, www.rachelforjustice.com.

The Bar states that there are no "non-privileged" documents that respond to the request.

And I am sorry. That is just UNCONSTITUTIONAL. The N.C. Bar wants to deprive Rachel Hunter of her law license - a protected property right - without affording her the right to the "voters" (if there are any) making the accusation.

I am sorry. A voter's right to privacy . . . or the right to privilege . . . ENDS with the accusation to third parties that might deprive Rachel of her ability to make a living.

In America, you have the fundamental right to face your accuser. For the "TruBlu's" of this world, that means the law says you don't get to fling monkey-poo in public without CSI examining the poo.

So when it comes to Rachel Hunter, the N.C. State Bar needs to put up or shut up.

Of course, it can't put up something that is not there.

Now, this is where Rachel Lea Hunter's battle becomes Dr. Mary Johnson's battle (translation: it's not all about me). The State Bar's discovery responses so far have a lot of parallels with the sorry state of medical regulation in this state . . . as well as bad-faith medical peer review . . . and what I went through as a physician-in-public-service employed by a "non-profit" hospital (in this "right-to-work" state).

You see, as it stands now (and as my stint in Asheboro demonstrates), any disgruntled jerk off the street can hurl a nasty in a doctor's direction . . . no matter how ludicrous or malicious or patently false . . . and that doctor's life can be destroyed . . . without any real scrutiny . . . without any opportunity for the doctor to face or challenge his/her accusers. The "customer" is always right - even when they are dead wrong.

And incredibly, in this era of doctor shortages . . . with a public clammering for and accountability & transparency, nobody gives a damn.

With that in mind, I am going to be re-telling my story on this blog on Friday. It's going to be the whole story of what happened over an approximately three week period in January & February 1998. And this time, in honor of our anonymous "TruBlu", I will naming the names of the people who libeled me and walked away unscathed.

They walked away unscathed, because, in the spirit of professional commraderie and/or honoring the privilege they waved, I let them. Instead, I focused on the actions Randolph Hospital took based upon their word - without exercising due diligence or due process (don't you just love those legal terms?) . . . because I thought that the system ("might", if you will) would ultimately work for right.

It hasn't.

The right honorable Rachel Lea Hunter (more right and more honorable than any judge I know of) inspires me to keep fighting.

So before I sign off on this post, in the spirit of "change", I have a message for Governor Bev Perdue, N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper and U.S. Attorney General-to-be (God Help Us) Eric Holder:

Fourteen years ago, I came home to Asheboro . . . laboring under agreements with both North Carolina and the Feds to repay my medical school loans for service. When I made the decision to come home, it was for keeps. I did my job - the way it was supposed to be done. I worked hard. I took good care of patients. I played by every rule. I covered a lot of butts and rescued a number of bad situations. And the agreements I made with the Feds said that my future was mine to decide - NOT Randolph Hospital's.

When done wrong, I exhausted every channel of redress . . . every chain of command . . . every jurisdiction. Hell, I've even been in the blogosphere four years . . . trying to get the press to pay attention . . . and for my trouble have only been spat upon by people who have NO IDEA what it means to actually stand up and fight for something . . .

. . . people like "TruBlu", who see no irony in the fact that they don't know what "cretin" means . . . people like Ed Cone and his ilk, who opine (in lieu of what we've established about how damaging an anonymous complaint can be) that threat-spewing "Tru" is "reasonable" . . . "progressive" people who revel in eviscerating someone's wounded, bleeding psyche as some kind of sick, warped entertainment

Well, no more. I got crapped on by the state of North Carolina over and over again . . . by NC & USDHHS . . . by the Medical Board . . . by the State Bar . . . by the local DA . . . by the NC & US Attorneys General. These regulatory bodies that are charged to protect us (patient/doctor/client) offered no protection or haven. They did not have my back. They blew off written agreements. They ignored ethical canons and postition statements . . . as well as codes of professional conduct. They've utterly failed to enforce the law.

Corruption and apathy permeates our systems of medical oversight and justice.

The really, really sad thing is that the very same thing could happen to a young doctor in public service tomorrow, and that young doctor would find themselve mired in the very same quicksand I did . . . because in eleven years, NOTHING has been done to fix the holes I fell through

And you see, I think that's "relevant".

Today is the fourth anniversary of my Father's death. Perhaps my most vivid memory of Pops is of him standing "guard" across Fayetteville street . . . a lone "redneck" figure in his railroad hat, boots and Big Ben jacket (someone that the Country-Club types & Ed Cones of this world would sneer & spit at) . . . silently watching his daughter stage a humiliating lone protest against the third-rate administrators of the two-bit Bandaid station that did her wrong. Daddy stayed until I was done that evening. No one . . . not the hospital . . . not reporters . . . not the police . . . were going to mess with his little girl.

Today is also the eleventh anniversay of the day my life went to hell . . . when all my dreams . . . and all of my parents' dreams for me . . . were dashed against a White Wall of small-town hypocrisy and greed. I cannot be at my Mother's side this week (where I should be) as she buries her best friend . . . because two overpaid, amoral, sexist cretins have thus far been untouchable.

So this is my message for Beverly Perdue and Roy Cooper and Garland Yates and all of the not-so-honorable members of Randolph Hospital's Board of Directors and the new U.S. Attorney General:

The administrators of "non-profit" hospital do NOT get a free pass to lie, cheat, steal, and destroy. Not only do they not get to lie to the IRS, they don't get to lie to citizens. Moreover, it is the government's job to protect and defend the duties it requires. And/so, if the Governor of North Carolina and USDHHS and the IRS do not very quickly put their "great" lawyers to work on the case of Dr. Mary Johnson and Randolph Hospital . . . in a fashion that finally vindicates and restores Dr. Johnson . . . if the new "team" does not immediately buckle down to legislatively plug the holes in a medicolegal system that clearly does not work to protect anyone but the well-connected guilty (aka, the "right people"), then the Governor of North Carolina and her Attorney General (not to mention the U.S. Attorney General) can expect the ugliest, nastist, broadest-reaching lawsuit that Dr. Mary Johnson can file.

One way or another, there will be "change".
Posted by Dr. Mary Johnson at 7:21 PM
0 comments:

WTF?

n/t

The best thinking is independent thinking.

Trust me when I say

you "don't want to know", Smitty.

Max, you're killing me. For one thing, I know you don't agree with a lot of what Dr. Mary has to say politics-wise, and you know that most of the folks here don't either, so why in the hell would you post EVERYTHING she writes just to get the Rachel stuff in there?

See the edit button? Use it.

MaxTheDog2's picture

The NC Bar is a werid bunch of legal suckers?

From: Maria Marius (mariamarius@hotmail.com)

I would like to know what the criteria are for initiating disciplinary sanctions in NC.
Which I'm sure "they" don't want to share with us.

One would think there must be some formal complaint from somebody to initiate an investigation. Even if it initiated at the behest of a Supreme Court Justice, that is still an identifiable human being.

The way they are approaching this makes it seem that there is this floating miasma of "investigation" hovering over NC and nobody has to initate a complaint because everybody is suspect all the time or something.

This is just so weird


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