Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Judge imposes fine on "birther" lawyer

A little less than a month ago, I reported that a federal District Court Judge had issued a warning to attorney Orly Taitz to stop filing “frivolous” lawsuits alleging that President Obama is ineligible to serve as President. (See here). Today, several sources are reporting that Taitz continued to file motions in the case, including a motion asking the judge to recuse himself and that, in response, the judge has fined the attorney $20,000 stating that “Counsel’s wild accusations may be protected by the First Amendment when she makes them on her blog or in her press conferences, but the federal courts are reserved for hearing genuine legal disputes, not as a platform for political rhetoric and personal insults.” The judge's order is available here.

In his comment on this case, Prof. Jonathan Turley quotes a letter sent by the client that Taitz claimed to be representing sent directly to the judge in which she states she did not authorize Taitz to file any motions or to speak for her. Prof. Turley's coverage of the story is available here.

For more on the story, links and some commentary, you can also go here, here and here.

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